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Presented by Mr Samuel Agnew of Philadelphia, Pa.
Agnezv Coll. on Baptism, No.
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THE DEACONSHIP:
TREATISE ON THE OFFICE OF DEACON.
SUGGESTIONS FOR ITS REVIVAL
CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.
BY THE REV. JOHN G. LORIMER,
MINISTER OF ST DAVID's PARISH, GLASGOW,
AUTHOR OF " HISTORICAI. SKETCH OF THE PROTESTANT CHURCH OF FRANCE,'
" MANUAL OF PRESBYTER V," ETC.
EDINBURGH :
JOHN JOHNSTONE, HUNTER SQUARE,
LONDON : R. GROOMBRIDGE.
MDCCCXLII.
ENTERED IN STATIONERS HALL.
Printed by John Johnstone, High Street, Eiliiiburgh
CONTENT
INTRODUCTORY.
REVIVAL OF THE OFFICE OF DEACON IX THE CHRISTIAN
CHURCH.
Remarkable State of Society and of the World at the present moment— The
Trial of Evangelical Religion — Growing Pressure of the Question con-
nected with the Poor — What light the Scriptures throw on the Subject—
The Office of Deacon expressly intended for the Management— Perver-
sion of it in some Churches — Non-application in others — Its Revival
peculiarly called for at the present day, . . . Page 5-10.
CHAPTER I.
ON THE NATURE OF THE OFFICE OF DEACON IN THE
CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
Mistakes of the Church of Rome and the Church of England in regard to the
Office — Solely concerns the Ecclesiastico- Secular Interests of the Church
— Such an Office might have been looked for- Would naturally Rise out
of the Progress of the Church— Called for, for the Kehef of the Christian
Ministry from Secular Cares — Desirable as a Shield against Mercenary
Imputations — Remarkable Delicacy of the Apostles in regard to Money
Matters— The Office Permanent in its Nature— Reasons for this more
Powerful now than in Primitive Times, . . Fage U-\6.
CHAPTER H.
OF THE GENERAL IMPORTANCE OF THE OFFICE OF DEACON.
Christianity naturally Tends to the Acquisition of Wealth, but, for wise Rea-
sons, there are always to be Poor in the Christian Church — The Gospel in
its own nature makes Provision for them, by Creating a Spirit of Libe-
rality—Earnestly calls Attention to the Teniporal Wants of the Poor-
Identifies Regard for the Pious Poor with Regard for Christ— The Office
needed to Prevent the Misdirection of the Wealth whicli True Religion
Creates— Early and Corrupting Application of Money in the Christian
Church— The Special Care of tlie Poor is Conducive to the Credit of
Christianity— Claims of the World in regard to the Poor imperatively
require that the (.'huicli should prove herself their warm Friend,
Pcfge 17-26.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER III.
OP THE DIVINE AUTHORITY OF THE OFFICE OF DEACON.
Founded on Scripture Authority— 6th Chapter of the Acts, 1st Chapterof Phi-
lippians,and.3dof 1st Timothy — But has no connection with the Preaching
of the Gospel or Administering Ordinances — This Proved by the Origin
of the Office and the Qnalificat ions which are Demanded in the Word-
Circumstances out of which the Institution Sprung — Female Deacon-
esses Establish the Secular Nature of the Office— The Cases of Philip
and Stephen lend no Countenance to the Idea that the Office is Spiri-
tual, Page 27-34.
CHAPTER IV.
TESTIMONY OF ANCIENT ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY TO THE
OFFICE OF DEACON.
Down to A.D. 250— The Notices of History Favourable to the Scriptural Nature
of the Office — Even the Testimonies of Tertullian and Cyprian Hostile
to a Deacon Administering Baptism—" The Apostolic Constitutions "—
Jerome — Sixth General Council of Constantinople, &c., iScc Point in
the same Direction — Sentiments of Neander— Explanation of the Un-
warranted Change in the Office in the Third Centurv— Concession by
Bishop Croft, P^/^-'' 35-41.
CHAPTER V.
TESTIMONY OF MODERN ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY.
THE REFORMERS.
PART II.
The Waldenses hold the Scriptural View of the Office— Also, Wickliffe—
Tyndal — Lambert— Ursinus—BudEeus— The Lutheran Church— Genevan
Church— Calvin— The Swiss Churches— The French Protestant Church—
Belgic — Dutch, Ancient and Modern— Nonconformists of New England
— On this Subject Presbyterians and Congregationalists are agreed,
Page 42-52,
CHAPTER VI.
OF THE QUALIFICATIONS OF DEACONS, AND MODE OF
APPOINTMENT.
Besides a Common Education, they require to be, 1. Of Honest Report— 2.
Full of the Holy Ghost— 3. Of \\ isdom— In addition to these, there are
the Qualifications detailed in 1st Timothy, 3d Chapter— Deacons must be,
1. Grave— 2. Not Double-tongued— 3. Temperate— 4. Free from Avarice
—5. Acquainted with the Doctrines of the Gospel— G. Must hold the
Mystery of the Faith in a Pure Conscience— 7. IMust be Proved— 8- Must
be the Husband of One Wife— 9. Must Rule well their own Family.
MODE OF APPOINTMENT.
Plainly Taught— Elected, not by the Apostles, but by the Members of the
Christian Church, who judged of Spiritual Qualifications— Chose excel-
CONTENTS.
lently— Objection Answered— Churches of the Reformation Differed as to
the Mode of Appointment to the Deaconship— The Church of Scotland
held Free Election — The Ordination not in the hands of the People, but
of the Church Courts— Extract from Rev. Dr Dick's Lectures,
Page 53-65.
CHAPTER VII.
ON THE DUTIES OF DEACON.
His chief Care the Poor — Whether merely the Christian or the General
Poor ? — Reasons for Including both Classes— The Original Institution of
the Office not inconsistent with this— In regard to the Mode in which the
Deacon should Attend the Poor— 1. He should Visit them and give his
Charity in their own Houses— 2. He should Encourage all Plans, Moral
and Economical, for the Prevention of Poverty — Friendly Societies-
Savings' Bank on the Aggressive Principle, as at Manchester — The Loan
Fund, as Conducted in Ireland— The Spirit in which the Deacon should
Discharge his Duties — His other Duties connected with the Financial
Affairs of the Church or Congregation, . . Page 66-77.
CHAPTER VIIL
THE OFFICE OF DEACON AS IT APPEARS IN THE STANDARDS
AND HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.
Paganism Despises, Popery Injures the Poor — Evangelical Protestantism
their best Friend— The Office of Deacon recognised and acted upon
in the very Dawn of the Reformation in Scotland— Approved by the
Church of England at the same period — Foreign Congregations in Lon-
don— Views of the First Book of Discipline of the Church of Scotland
(1560) — Deacons in John'Knox's Church in Edinburgh — Views of the
Second Book of Discipline (1578)— Of Alexander Henderson's celebrated
Treatise on the " Government and Order of the Church of Scotland"
(1641)— Of Guthrie the Martyr's Treatise of Elders and Deacons at a
later date — Large number of Deacons in Glasgow— Dunfermline and
Country Parishes in the 17th Century — Anderson's Testimony to the
State of the Deacorship in 1714 — Act of General Assembly in 1719— State
of the Deaconship since— General Decline— Proof of this— Indications of
Modern Revival, ...... Page 78-94,
CHAPTER IX.
THE GENERAL ADVANTAGES OF A REVIVAL OF THE OFFICE
OF DEACON, AND THE SPECIAL CALL TO IT AT THE PRE-
SENT DAY.
1. The Revival would be highly Useful to the Eldership— It would supply
more Men, and of higher Qualification, and it would prove an excellent
Training School— 2. It would be Beneficial to the Minister— 3. It would
Interest a large body of Men in the Poor, and reflexly do Good to the
Deacon himself— 4. The Poor would receive increased Attention, in a
variety of ways— 5. The Church would be Strengthened in her General
Character and Claims as the Friend of the Poor— These Recommenda-
tions particularly Important at the present day, from the State of the
Poor and of Society— No serious Obstacles in the way of the Revival of
the Office can be apprehended, .... Page 95-103.
•^ / ^ CONTENTS.
APPENDIX.
NO. I. TESTIMONY OP AN ENGLISH PRELATE TO PRESBY-
TERIAN VIEWS OF THE OFFICE OF DEACON.
Statement of Dr Croft, Bishop of Hereford — The Deacon not a Spiritual
Order— The First Departure from Scripture Views of the Office in the
Second Centurj'— Even this was limited— Refutation of the Alleged
Testimony of Ignatius— Reply to Petavius— Origin of the Perversion—
Chrysostom— The Office of Deacon in the Church of Rome— In the
Church of England, ..... Pw^^e 107-110.
NO. II. REVIVAL OF THE ORDER OF DEACONS STRONGLY
AND IMMEDIATELY RECOMMENDED BY MINISTERS AND
1841.
Associations in Edinburgh and Glasgow for improving the Character and
Condition of the Poor — " Statement of the Edinburgh Committee," re-
commend Revival of the Office of Deacon— Prevailing Social Evils to be
met — A Moral Agency might be drawn from Christian Congregations —
The Charge should be limited to a very small number of Families — The
Practical Objects which should be aimed at— The Means to be employed
— The Desirableness of such a Moral Agency — A Caution against E.k.-
aggerated Expectations from its Labours— Inferiority to the full applica-
tion of the Parochial Sj'stem — Facts in this Connection, Page 110-117.
NO. III. PRACTICAL EXEMPLIFICATION OF THE WORKING
OF THE DEACONSHIP EVEN IN A LARGE TOWN.
Testimony of a Deacon of 18 years' standing, . . Po^-e 118-121.
NO. IV. savings' BANKS IN CONNECTION WITH THE
DEACONSHIP.
The Aggressive Principle acted upon at Manchester with success,
Prt^e 121-122.
NO. V. EXAGGERATED VIEWS OF THE CRIME OF GLAS-
GOW AND SCOTLAND — THE SUCCESS OF RELIGIOUS AND
EDUCATIONAL MEANS IN REPRESSING IT.
Injurious Effects of exaggerating Crime— The Statement of Mr Sheriff Ali-
son in regard to the Consumption of Ardent Spirits in Glasgow— In regard
to Weekly Intoxication— In regard to Female Profligacy in the Mills-
Considered and Answered — Crime of Scotland— To what its Increase is
Owing — Increase of Population — Large proportion of the Offenders Irish
—The Efiectof the New System of County Police in swelling the apparent
number of Criminals— The last Illustrated by the Returns from East Lo-
thian—The Necessity of Classification in Criminal Returns— Misleading
Efiect in aggregate numbers- Illustrated in Glasgow and Calton— Dimi-
nution of Crime in both — Testimony of Captain Miller, of the Glasgow
Police, to the Efficacy of Moral, Educational, and Religious Means in
Diminishing Crime— Of Mr Kutherglen, oneof the Magistrates of Calton,
and of Mr M'Laren, Superintendent of the Barony Poor to the same
Purpose— <yOniparison of the Crime of Scotland with that of England
and Wales, and with that of Ireland, even in the most favourable Pro-
vince of the latter— Conclusion from the whole Facts, I'nge 122-131.
&
INTRODUCTORY.
REVIVAL OF THE OFFICE OF DEACON IN THE
CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
From a variety of causes, one is apt to attach an undue
importance to the events of the period in which he hap-
pens to live ; but there seems to be no question, whether
we contemplate the state of the Church or the world at
home or abroad — the discussion of great principles — the
dissatisfaction with the present, the aspiration after a
better state of things — general depression trying the faith
and patience of large bodies of men — the efforts made
for the propagation of the Gospel — and the remarkable
facilities of intercourse among the nations of the earth,
that our lot has been cast in extraordinary times. It
may be that some great prophetic period is at hand, if it
has not already arrived. One striking feature in the
picture seems to be the trial which is about to be made of
true Christianity in various forms. It cannot be doubt-
ed that evangelical religion has made immense progress
throughout Protestant Christendom, and particularly in
6 REVIVAL OF THE OFFICE OF DEACON
Britain and the United States of America, during the
last 30 years. The influence of this progress is manifest
in Christian missions to the heathen — the enlargement
of the Church, and the encouragement of scriptural
education at home. It may be marked, too, in the vast
circulation of works of sound practical Christianity — in
the improved feeling, in many quarters, in regard to
the Sabbath — and the general force with which religious
questions have, of late years, told upon politics and pub-
lic opinion. Not a great many years ago the Christian
Church and the world Avere, comparatively speaking,
asleep upon these and kindred subjects.
Not a few might have imagined that evangelical religion,
having started in a new career, would be allowed to move
on in peace, that the fruits of its blessed operation would
be every where visible, and recommend it to general fa-
vour ; but this is not God's way with his truth and cau?e.
He seldom allows them any considerable advancement,
without speedily trying them. This evokes their princi-
ples and proves their character, and so establishes them
the more. Indeed, evangelical religion, when it rises
to a particular prominency in society, almost necessarily
provokes such opposition as serves to try it. Hence, at
the present day, it is in the course of trial by old Popery
revived, and also by what may be called new Popery
among Protestants. In another quarter it is tried by
the interference of the civil arm — by divisions among
brethren on important doctrine — by infidelity widely
diffused in general knowledge and society — on particular
parts of God's law, such as the Fourth Commandment.
In the meantime, the spread of its principles of justice
and benevolence is correcting various abuses — is call-
IN THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 7
ing public attention, with effect, to human suffering,
whether in the form of slavery or excessive labour,
disease, or poverty. It is in connection with the last
that the following tract is written. The progress of
true religion would have created a deeper interest in
behalf of the poor, as soon as theu' indigence was known.
Indeed, it would have searched them out in any circum-
stances ; but particular events have brought forth and
proclaimed the evil to the public unexpectedly, and with
great force. The melancholy truth is now beginning to
be known, that, in the large, and even smaller towns,
and manufacturing villages, there is a vast amount of
temporal destitution — that the evil has been growing for
years — that it is now reaching a crisis — and that there
is no prospect of speedy or permanent relief. In these
circumstances, the concern and sympathy of all, and
particularly of Christians, are deeply awakened. Vari-
ous remedies are suggested — some of them, to say the
least, of dubious efficacy, and at best temporary allevia-
tion. In these cbcumstances, the friends of religion
naturally tm-n to the Scriptures. They ask themselves,
whether the Word of God throws any light on the treat-
ment of poverty ? and they find that Christians are not
only called upon to feel for, and reheve the indigent,
but that express provision is made for this in the consti-
tution of the Christian Church. They find that there is
a distinct order of office-bearers — the deacon — divinely
appointed for the care of the poor. The natural inquiry,
then, arises, whether this order may not be so revived as
to render, at least, substantial aid in meeting prevailing
indigence. It is plain that there is no prospect of that
indigence so speedily passing away as to render a per-
8 REVIVAL OF THE OFFICE OF DEACON
manent provision unnecessary ; and even though the
worst were, ere long, to disappear, it is desirable to have
that full organization of the Christian Church which
its Divine Founder intended. It is when carrying His
plans into operation, that the choicest blessing may be
expected both on the temporal and spiritual interests of
society. To many it may seem singular, that when
evangelical religion is so much tried with error and oppo-
sition of various kinds, a new, and difficult, and absorb-
ing question should arise, demanding the sympathy and
exertion of all its friends. This, so to speak, is an aggra-
vation of the trial. But it is not an unusual course with
God. While it is evangelical religion which gives in-
creased feeling and interest in behalf of the poor — if the
present wide-spread distress be the means of leading the
Christian Church generally, in all its branches, to recur
to scriptural views of the office of deacon, and to com-
plete its organization where it has been defective, or to
correct it where it has been erroneous, an immense ser-
vice will be rendered to Christianity, and through it, as
well as by means still more direct, to the interests of the
poor. It is well known that some Christian Churches
have perverted the office of deacon altogether, have
withdrawn it from the care of the poor, and have turned
it into an office for preaching and baptizing ; Avhile
others, though admitting its scriptural character, and
distinctly recognising it in their standards, have either
not acted upon it, or have devolved its duty upon a
separate office-bearer. The duty, in the great majority
of cases, may be creditably attended to in the Church of
Scotland. Indeed, the ruling elder may often act fully
as much as a deacon as in his more appropriate calling.
IN THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 9
But this blending is injurious in a variety of ways. It
confounds what is desirable should be distinct, and what
is distinct in Scripture. It impairs the spiritual char-
acter of the office of ruling elder, and greatly diminishes
the number of persons whose services might be obtained
for the office of deacon. The poor generally receive
the aid only of men who are supposed to be qualified for
the office of ruling elder, while they ought to be blessed
with the service of the far larger body who may possess
the qualifications, and have no objections to exercise
those as deacons. The benefit which is derived from
the services of deacons, where they are numerous,
shows the importance of being conformed as much
as possible to the apostolic model. Indeed, no small
part of the success of Dr Chalmers' experiment in
St John's, in this city, was owing to them. In the
Church of England, where the office of deacon, in its
scriptural character and object, is unknown, the Church,
as a Church, takes no charge of the poor, but leaves
them to the care of overseers — an office entirely se-
cular— administered by officers who may, or may not,
have any religious profession whatever. The revival of
the office of deacon, then, at all times important, is
peculiarly called for at the present day. If God intends
to try the strength of that evangelical religion which has
been growing of late years, it is well that the Christian
Church should be complete in its organization, and pre-
pared at every point for the conflict. The poor have
usually been the friends of the Gospel — friends when
higher parties have been hostile. It is one of its peculi-
arities, too, distinguishing it from all other religious
systems, that " it is preached to the poor;" and who can
10 REVIVAL OP THE OFFICE OF DEACON
tell what service they, by their prayers, as well as by
other means, may render to the Evangelical Church, in
return for her growing attention at once to their tem-
poral and spiritual wants. Apart from the blessing
which waits upon the faithful discharge of duty, they
may prove a source of direct strength and support.
IN THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 1 1
CHAPTER L
ON THE NATURE OF THE OFFICE OF DEACON IN
THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
As it is proposed, in the following pages, to advocate the
revival of the office of deacon, it is desirable to have
clear and distinct views of its nature. Though nothing
can be plainer or more certain, taking the Word of
God for our guide, yet there have been various misap-
prehensions in regard to it. The Church of Rome and
the Church of England have considered the deaconship
as an order — the first and the lowest in the priesthood ;
and some Congregationalists have considered it as syno-
nymous with presbyter ; and, therefore, so far spiritual
in its nature. But there is no foundation for either idea.
The office solely regards what may be termed the eccle-
siastico-secular interests of the Christian Church. It is
expressly distinguished from the spiritual, properly so
called ; and was originally instituted to set the spiritual
free from secular occupation. There may be diversity of
opinion about some offices in the Christian Church — such
as that of the rulinsf elder — thouofh even as to that, Pres-
byterians may wonder that other Christians can have any
hesitation ; but there is no scope for diffijrence of judg-
ment in regard to the deacon. The fact that there is any
such difference is a striking illustration of the power of
12 ON THE NATURE OF THE OFFICE OF DEACON
party and interested prejudice. It is not unnatural to
suppose that, as Christianity, though spiritual in itself,
deals with men still in the body, and affects^ -while it is
SO far dependent for its propagation upon, temporal in-
terests, so that there should be some office in connection
Avith it to take charge of its secular concerns ; and this,
accordingly, is precisely the design of the office of deacon.
There would have been an obvious defect — at least an
unnecessary, and, it may be, injurious blending of the
secular and the sacred — had there been no such office.
Though the original institution rose out of a particular
emergency — a murmuring as to the provision made for
the Hellenist as distinguished from the Hebrew widow
at Jerusalem, yet it is plain, though this case had not
occurred, there would have been others which would
soon have rendered such an appointment indispensable.
The progress of Christianity would have demanded it.
It was more accordant, however, with the free and
unsystematic character of the early Christian Church, to
create the office, when it was plainly needed, than to set
out with an original formal platform comprehending it.
This also commended the institution the more to the
acceptance of the humble followers of the Cross.
The original institution, I have said, was designed
to meet the case of a particular class of widows ; but
the office was not created to meet this or all classes
of widows exclusively, or even of the whole Christian
poor alone. It contemplated a wider sphere — even the
separation of the spiritual office of the apostleship and
ministry from all unnecessary secular occupation. The
care of poor widows came first, but there would soon
have been the care of the general poor; and even though
IN THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 13
these might have been otherwise provided for, yet the
collection of means for the maintenance of the ministry
and places of worship, and to defray the expenses of the
administration of ordinances, would have required such
an order of office-bearers as the deacon. The principle
which governed the appointment w^as : — " It is not
fit, it is not proper or becoming for the ministers of
the Gospel to leave the Word of God, and to serve
tables :" whether the tables be those of the poor, or for
receiving and paying away money for any cause con-
nected with the Christian Church — such as Christian
missions — still they involve work more or less secular,
which others can attend to, and from which it is most
desirable that the ministers of religion should be set
free. Besides unnecessary occupation, there is another
reason. The Spirit of God foreseeing how mercenary
the Christian Church would one day become, and hoAv
injurious this would prove to its character, manifested
a remarkable delicacy in regard to all money matters
in connection with the Ininistry. Hence, under His
teaching, the care of the apostles to avoid every thing
which savoured of the mercenary, or exposed to its
temptations and imputations. Doubtless it was from
this cause that Paul would receive no provision from
some of the Churches among which he laboured, and
preferred to earn his bread by tent-making, — probably
working at this employment over night, after preaching
during the day, rather than be indebted to those who
would misapprehend his standing upon his undoubted
rights as a minister. It was doubtless for the same
reason that, in sending the contributions of the Church
of Corinth to the poor saints in Judea, the apostle would
14 ON THE NATURE OF THE OFFICE OF DEACON
not go alone, nor take charge of the collection himself;
but stated to the Corinthians, " When I come, whom-
soever j/e shall approve hy your letters, them will I send
to bring your liberality to Jerusalem ; and if it be meet
that I go also, they shall go ivith me!' (1 Cor. xvi. 1-4.)
Here was delicacy, one would say almost to excess, but
the apostle acted upon it to the full. Accordingly
Titus, the evangelist, was sent with the collection, or
rather he offered his services on the occasion. And Paul
adds, " and we have sent m ith him the brother whose
praise is in the Gospel through all the Churches ; and
not only so, but who was also chosen of the Churches to
travel with us with this gift, which is administered by us
to the glory of the same Lord." And then Paul adds,
showing the source of his extreme caution, " Avoiding
this, that no man should blame us in this abundance,
which is ministered by us ; providing for honest things,
not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of
men" (2 Cor. viii. 18-21.) We cannot doubt that it
was from the same fine delicacy — the gift of the Spirit
— that while the bishop or minister of each congrega-
tion was one, the deacons were numerous ; at least were
more than one. In the Church at Jerusalem, even at
the outset, there were seven. The duties of deacons
being often private, almost confidential, hid from gene-
ral publicity, it was the more necessary that the trust
should not be committed to a single individual. It
was chiefly by having a board or court of officers that
the Church could have confidence that the funds would
be properly applied.
As the oflice of deacon was restricted to the temporal
interests of the Church, so it was permanent in its nature.
IN THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 15
It was designed to form a part of the constitution of the
Church in all countries and in all ages. Some of the
offices, such as those of apostle, evangelist, prophet,
&c., were obviously extraordinary — intended to last, like
the miraculous spiritual gifts, but for a season, till the
Church was brought into a condition to sustain itself,
with God's blessing, on the use of outward and ordinary
means. But it was otherwise with the office of deacon.
Designed as it was to separate what was secular from
what was spiritual, and to relieve the spiritual from what-
ever was suspicious, as well as provide for the poor, it is
manifest that this was equally essential in all times and
places. If the office of deacon was a good thing at Jeru-
salem in the first century, it must, on the same ground,
be not less important in Scotland in the nineteenth
century. Indeed, the reasons which prevail now for
having such an office, are superior to those which existed
in the first age of Christianity. The temptations to
secularity, in connection with the management of the
affairs of the Church, have increased, while the high
spiritual tone of the infancy of the Gospel has declined.
AYhat a rebuke does this anxiety of the apostles to be
relieved from even the care of widows, administer to
those of their professed successors, who leave the Word
of God, and unnecessarily and systematically involve
themselves in matters tenfold more secular? If the
management of the provision for widows is to be aban-
doned to a separate and secular officer — a provision
which, in some respects, may be called religious — what
would they have thought of the almost entire occupation
of their time with the mere government of the Church,
apart from the grand objects of a Church, or the conduct
16 ON THE NATURE OP THE OFFICE OF DEACON, ETC.
of the civil affairs of the State, or the cultivation of a
taste for the classics of ancient heathenism ? Assuredly
no apostle could look upon such a state of things with
approbation. It appears, then, that the office of deacon
in the Christian Church is a permanent one, and that it
is intended so to draw off and exhaust the secular, in
its different forms, as to leave the other offices — those of
the pastor and ruling elder — free to their appropriate
spiritual duties. The same reasons which call for the
abandonment of a part of the secular, call for the aban-
donment of the whole; and the same reasons which
demanded the separation between the secular and directly
rehgious in the first age, demand it with enlarged force
in the artificial and mercenary age in which we live.
So much for the nature of the office. In the Appendix
the reader will find an account of the office, as perverted
by the Church of England and the Church of Rome.
We can scarcely conceive any thing more different from,
nay, at more utter variance with the requirements of
God's Word.
ON THE GENERAL IMPORTANCE OF THE OFFICE, ETC. 17
CHAPTER II.
ON THE GENERAL IMPORTANCE OF THE OFFICE OF
DEACON.
The fact that there is such an office as that of der.coii in
the Christian Church, is a sufficient proof of its neces-
sity. God does not act without reason ; but when we
can discover the grounds of the appointment, the result
is more satisfactory and convincing. Even though we
could not have discovered these, our duty would not
have been affected in the least degree.
It might have been thought that, as true religion
quickens industry and frugality, by converting them into
sacred virtues, as well as by improving the mind — as it
saves men from many expensive vanities and vices to
which others are exposed — so it would have led to
large accumulations of Avealth. It certainly operates in
this way. The countries where true religion is most
prevalent, are also the countries where proportionally
there is the largest amount of national resources. In-
deed, some outlet is needful, such as in the propagation
of the Gospel, for the accumulations which Christianity,
by the improvement of the spirit and habits of its ad-
herents, naturally creates. But with all this, it is part of
the arrangement of the Great Head of the Church, that
in every age, down to the last, there shall be poor. We
18 ON THE GENERAL IMPORTANCE OF
are to have the poor with us always, to try the liberality
of the rich, to exercise the patience of the indigent —
at once to teach gratitude, and humility, and dependence
— the sovereignty of God — and that there is no social
perfectibihty upon earth by an equality of rank and
fortune, as infidel philosophers have vainly dreamed.
These, and other important ends, are answered by the
presence of the poor in the Christian Chui'ch. They are
also to be regarded as the representatives of Christ upon
earth, who chose the deepest poverty, and who wished
his people to understand that, in doing a kindness to his
poor members, they are conferring a favour upon himr
self — such is the intimacy of their union. Nor are there
only to be the poor in the Christian Church. As there
are poor in the world at large, there is to be more than
a usual share of poverty. The pride of wealth naturally
estranges from true religion, while Christ has ever drawn
the largest number of his followers from tlie humbler
walks of life. That persecution too, to which all faith-
ful Christians are exposed, tends to impoverish ; hence
the necessity of some permanent provision for the poor
in the Christian Church. And as the circumstances of so
large a body of Christians call for this, so Christianity
itself supplies the provision. It is one of the grand
points of distinction between true religion and false,
or what is substantially the same thing, corruption
of the true religion — that the one is essentially liberal
— carries us out of ourselves toward others; where-
as the other centres all the regards of the mind and
heart upon one's self; in other words, is intensely selfish ;
and, with the exception of some cases, which admit of
explanation, makes the unhappy man more and more
THE OFFICE OF DEACON. 19
selfish the longer he lives. Besides this general ten-
dency of true religion, whether under the Old or Xew
Testament form, to liberalise the heart, there are other
considerations in connection with Christianity which
tend to the same result. Our blessed Lord does not,
like some of his professed followers, make light of tem-
poral wants. He does not, in the magnitude of spiritual
necessities, and the urgent duty of providing for them,
overlook the ills of poverty. On the contrary, he ten-
derly cares for and expressly provides for man's temporal
necessities. He himself knew, from experience, what
poverty is. He calls upon his people continually to
pray, " Give us this day our daily bread," before present-
ing any petition for blessing directl}^ personal or spiritual.
And instead of absolving his people from any contribu-
tions except to moral and religious objects, such as the
propagation of the Gospel, he calls upon them to be as
liberal, and more liberal than we can suppose the most
humane men of the world, from instinctive impulse, even
to become. He knows that the wealth which true
Christianity is the mean of creating, well directed, is
sufficient to meet all legitimate wants, whether temporal
or spiritual.
It is not necessary to say any thing of the tenderness
with which the Word of God speaks of the poor — its
imperative commands to care for and befriend them —
the blessing which is promised to those who consider
their case — the curse which is denounced against those
who neglect or oppress them ; let it only be remem-
bered that Christ calls upon his followers to regard the
pious poor as brethren and sisters, by a stronger tie
than that of a common nature and common liability to
20 ON THE GENERAL IMPORTANCE OF
suffering, as children of the same Father, objects of the
same eternal and electing love, and that the awards of
the great day of judgment are to turn upon the mode on
which men treat the poor members of His body. What
can be more fitted to draw forth in a Christian heart the
most intense and unwearied sympathy to a poor man,
than the thought that, all indigent as he is, and out-
wardly wretched, he has been chosen of God from
eternity to salvation, and that he may be in heaven, at
the right hand of the Lamb, before his benefactor?
What, at once, more solemnizing and more fitted to
open the heart in the warmest benevolence, than to
think of the words of the Judge, " Yerily I say unto
you. In as much as ye have done it to one of the least
of these, Qiiy brethren, ye have done it unto me?" It
is plain, then, there is a call for such an office as that of
deacon, in as much as we are assured, on the highest
authority, that there shall be poor needing its kind office
in all ages, and in as much as Christianity provides, in
its spirit and principles, for liberality to the poor.
I have, now, farther to remark, that such an office is
required, that the liberality which true religion creates
may be directed aright, and guarded against becom-
ing a source of evil. This applies not only to the
management of the funds for the poor, but to the general
pecuniary revenues of the Church. I do not here refer
to the dangers of wealth in the hands of superstition —
to the mendicancy which the Church of Rome, in a
variety of ways, creates — spreading hosts of beggars,
clerical and lay, over the richest countries of the earth ;
and to the means which she then takes to supply the
indigence which she has called into existence — ways
THE OFFICE OF DEACOX. 21
which ever tend to aggrandise the priesthood, and to
add to the power of the Church. Xor do I refer to her
prodigious accumulations of property for the support and
extension of her system of superstition, idolatry, and
despotism, to the ends of the world. Men may doubt
whether she deserves the name of Christian, and whe-
ther, in writing of the officers of the Christian Church,
her character and history should not be thrown out of
the reckoning. But it is well to remember that, before
the days of the Church of Rome, at least before she had
risen to dangerous supremacy, in the pure and peaceful
times, as they are accounted, of primitive Christianity,
the most serious evils arose in the Christian Church, from
the ill-regulated accumulation of wealth. Milton some-
where justly remarks, that the Church w^as corrupted by
money before she was corrupted by power. TVTiere it is
necessary that wealth, whether for the support of the
poor, or the maintenance of the ministry, or the general
extension of the Church, shall be collected together, and
employed by Christians, it is almost essential that there
be a body of men, whose distinct office and care it shall
be to administer the funds, and who shall be responsible
to the Church. If there be no regulation of so important
a matter — if large and ever-growing sums be committed
to individuals, or to the pastor burdened with other du-
ties, or to volunteer and almost irresponsible managers,
or to ill-defined associations, it is evident, let the Church
be as Christian as it may, sound in doctrine and public
ordinances, it will not long remain so, — that, constituted
as human nature is, corruption in a variety of forms,
some of them, at the outset, quite innocent, will cer-
tainly and speedily enter ; and that a mercenary spirit
22 ON THE GENERAL IMPORTANCE OP
and corrupt administration will, ere long, vitiate doctrine,
and mould it to their own purposes.
What the nature of things, even among Christians,
would thus lead us to expect, the history of the Christian
Church amply estahlishcs. Without meaning to antici-
pate, it may be mentioned that, in the second century, not
a great many years after the apostle John had closed his
eyes upon the world, the Christian Church at Rome, the
metropolis of the world, was so overflowing in wealth,
that she not only supported her own clergy and poor,
but largely aided other churches, subsisted multitudes
of Christian captives in several provinces, and even the
Christian prisoners condemned to labour and perish in
the mines. The impression which then prevailed, and
which many Fathers afterwards diligently propagated,
that the end of the world was at hand, conduced to this
excessive liberality. When men, who were persecuted
for their fiiith, believed that, at all events, the present
state of things would not survive two or three years, it
is not wonderful they Avillingly, nay lavishly, parted with
their worldly treasures. Indeed, in the third century,
such were the pecuniary resources of the Christian
Church, that they tempted the avarice or necessities of
the imperial power. Now, though there were peculia-
rities in the case referred to, yet it plainly shows the
absolute necessity of regulating the wealth of the Church,
and that by a court of officers forming a constitutional
part of the Church itself. There may, indeed there
were scriptural deacons in the second century, but ere
long, in the third, their office was seriously changed.
They were distracted in their appropriate duties, by
having part of the ministry of the Word and Sacraments
THE OFFICE OF DEACON. 23
devolved on them, while the office of Ruling elder — un-
popular because a restraint upon corruption, and which,
as held by a large body of intelligent men, would have
operated as an indirect check upon mismanagement on
the part of the deacon — began to disappear. As time
rolled on, and the wealth of the Church accumulated,
the traces of the scriptural deacon, though sufficiently
clear to mark the original office, became more and more
indistinct, till, absorbed into an order of priesthood, its
wealth and power at last centred in the bishop, or the
bishop of bishops — the Pope.
It appears, then, that the very liberality which Chris-
tianity recommends and creates, needs to be well regu-
lated by suitable church- officers ; that, apart from this, it
is liable to, and soon degenerates into serious corruption.
Surely this is a strong reason for maintaining the order of
deacons in its exclusively scriptural functions. Doubtless
the Great Head of the Church foresaw and meant to pro-
vide against the dangers of unregulated wealth by the
creation of such a class of office-bearers. Were it neces-
sary to say any thing more in behalf of the deacon, it
would be found in the circumstance, that the special care
of the poor, in an official form, is conducive to the credit
of Christianity. It is well knoA\ai how much the men of
the world pride themselves upon their charities, and how
often they charge religious men, very falsely it is true,
but still charge them with being indifferent to the tem-
poral wants of the poor. That men of the world some
times do very generous things, and occasionally leave
considerable sums, by testamentary bequest, to charitable
objects, may be true. When one expects the salvation
of his soul in consequence of alms-deeds, it is not won-
24 ON THE GENERAL IMPORTANCE
derful that he should be generous. The Mahommedan,
who is taught by the Koran that charity opens the gates
of heaven, is frequently eminent for his donations to
men of the same faith and nation with himself; so is
the unbelieving Jew. But whatever may be the influ-
ence of instinctive feeling or self-righteous hope, it is
unquestionable that the Christian, notwithstanding the
large demands which are made upon him for religious
objects — objects with which the men of the world do not
intermeddle, yet proportionally contributes far more
liberally to the temporal necessities of his fellow-men and
fellow- Christians, than others. The very habit of giving
encourages it, and the constraining love of Christ is not
inconsistent with instinctive sympathy, but may act in
the same direction. Though these things may be
known by all who take the pains to consider them, the
world still professes itself to be the friend of the poor
man, to the disparagement of the Christian. It holds
that it deals in substantial kindness, while the other
contents himself with faith, as distinguished from mora-
lity. To meet this common charge it is most desirable,
for the honour of Christianity and the Christian Church,
that they be seen in their true character as the patrons
of the poor, especially the pious poor ; and how can this
be better done than when it appears that a court of
olficers, to watch over the interests of the poor, in the
spirit of Christianity, is an essential part of the consti-
tution of the Christian Church ? So long as the Church
cannot point to these officers in living operation under
her authority, she wants the full answer which she may
and ought to have it in her power to retm-n to the
charges and insinuations, whether of worldliness, or su-
OP THE OFFICE OF DEACON. 25
perstition, or infidelity. It is not enough to say that Chris-
tians are charitable — far more charitable than others,
unless it can be shown that the poor are so important in
their eyes, and dear to their hearts, that they have a regu-
lar official provision in the very structure of the Christian
Church for attending to their wants, and that men are
failing in Christian duty where this, in one form or an-
other, is wanting. Let, however, the Christian Church
be fully equipped with a large staff of laborious tender-
hearted deacons, w^atching over the poor from week to
week and year to year, ministering to their wants out of
the donations of the Church, and treating them with the
kindness of brethren and sisters ; and what is there in
any occasional charitable bequest, any regular and ex-
traordinary deed of benevolence, on the part of the men
of the world, which could bear any comparison with
such friendship ? Tried by this test, Christianity would
not only be acquitted of indifference — its genuine libe-
rality w^ould be established and rendered conspicuous.
"We can conceive few things more dishonourable to Pro-
testant Christianity, or more fitted to impair its progress,
than to be able to say, with apparent truth, that it is
careless of the interests of the poor — more careless than
the men who make less pretension. And, on the other
hand, we can conceive few things more fitted to propi-
tiate the good-will of the world, which, at all events,
admires benevolence, than to be able, in a way which
does not admit of cavil, to show that the same religious
system which alone can provide for the welfare of eter-
nity, is the most active and unwearied guardian of the
poor man's interest in time. This is an argument which
must always be powerful, but particularly in such a day
26 ON THE GENERAL IMPORTANCE OF
as the present, -when it is to be feared irreligion and
infidelity prevail to a considerable extent among the
humbler classes of society — classes which were once
happily strangers to the poison, and which are naturally
led, from their very circumstances, to make comparisons
of men and systems in connection with their care for the
poor, and to consider this as almost the exclusive stan-
dard of character.
THE OFFICE OF DEACON. 27
CHAPTER III.
OF THE DIVINE AUTHORITY OF THE OFFICE OF
DEACON.
Though the "vvord deacon means a servant in general,
and is in Scripture applied to the servants of God,
whether in a more public or private capacity, — to the
ministry of the Gospel, the civil magistrate, and even to
our Lord himself, who is called " a servant or minister
of the circumcision," because a Jew, as regarded his
human nature, he confined his ministry to the children
of Israel, — yet it is the name also of a distinct ecclesias-
tical office. There is no question about this. It is
too clear to be disputed. In the Book of the Acts we
have a detailed account of the institution. The epistle
to the Church at Philippi is specially sent to the deacons
and ministers of the Gospel in that city ; and the same
writer, in his First Epistle to Timothy, after describing
the character and qualifications of a faithful minister,
describes not less clearly those of the deacon ; evidently
showing that the ofiices were not only distinct, but per-
manent in the Christian Church. The office of deacon
was to be as lasting as that of minister, and hence the
counsels which are given to Timothy in regard to it ;
the nature of the office is as well marked as the office
itself. It has no concern with the preaching of the
28 OP THE DIVINE AUTHORITY OP
Gospel, or the administration of sacraments. There is
not the slightest authority for this in the Word of God ;
nay, it is directly hostile to its teaching. The deacon was
appointed (see the sixth of the Acts), not because there
was not a sufficient number of ministers of the Gospel,
but because it was indispensable to make provision for the
temporal wants of the poorer Christians, on a different
plan than had hitherto been pursued. The same reasons
which called for the institution of such an office at Jeru-
salem, rendered it necessary in other quarters. Hence
the apostle Paul addresses the deacons as well as the
bishops of Philippi.* — (Phil. i. 1.) In the account,
agaiuj of the qualifications of deacons, in his first letter
to Timothy, there is not the slightest allusion to the
preaching of the Gospel and the dispensation of the sacra-
ments. It is not said of the deacon, as it is of the bishop
or pastor, that he is to be " apt to teach ;" nor is it said
that he is to " care for," by ruling the Church of God.
These belong to the bishop or minister. The deacon's
qualifications are summed up in those things most appro-
priate to the office of one who has the charge of the poor
and the secular affairs of the Church generally : " Like-
wise must the deacons be grave, not double-tongued,
not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre ;
holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience.
And let them also first be proved, then let them use the
office of a deacon, being found blameless. Let the deacons
be the husband of one wife, ruling their children and
their own houses well. For they that have used the office
* This is a proof, by the way, that the bishops in apostolic times were but
ministers of the Gospel, of whom, it would seem, there were more than one
at Philippi. It would be absurd to suppose, that in the sense of modern
Episcopacy, there were several diocesan bishops in one town, and that in the
beginning of the Gospel times.
THE OFFICE OP DEACON. 29
of a deacon well, purcliase to themselves a good degree,
and great boldness in tlae faith which is in Christ Jesus."
From these words several important points are ap-
parent. It is obvious that though the calling of the
deacon, comparatively speaking, be secular, yet that
he must be a man of intelligent piety, and generally
esteemed; that he has nothing to do with the teach-
ing or government of the Church, or administration
of ordinances, otherwise such important duties would
not have been overlooked. The caution against being
double-tongued and given to wine, and the love of
gain; and the exhortation to proved fidelity, are all
peculiarly appropriate to one invested with the charge
of public funds. Nor is there any thing inconsistent
with propriety in the deacon, having served his office
well, being raised to that of the ruling elder, and, with
suitable education, even to the ministry of the Gospel.
Such cases are not unfrequent in the Church of Scotland.
It may be worthy of notice, that while the counsels given
regarding the bishop are in the singular number, imply-
ing that the Church has one pastor, the deacons are
spoken of in the plural number, intimating that there
were several in each Church. This harmonizes with the
idea that the deacon is the guardian of the interests of
the poor, which need several. It is inconsistent with the
notion that he is a preacher and dispenser of baptism.
Other passages might be referred to, such as the 12th of
the Romans, where " he that giveth" — evidently mark-
ing the deacon — is called upon to give "with simplicity;"
and the 12th of 1st Corinthians, which, under the terra
" helps," describes the same class of office-bearers ; but
we prefer to direct the reader's attention to the original
30 OF THE DIVINE AUTHORITY OF
institution. It is too plain, and is given with too much
detail, to admit of any misunderstanding.
It would seem that at a very early period in the history
of the Christian Church, before Peter had set out on his
first evangelistic journey, or Saul had been converted, it
was necessary to make some permanent arrangement for
the support of the poor Christians. Under the remarkable
influence of the Gospel, a self-denial and generosity had
been manifested by the members of the Christian Church
generally, which was perhaps unparalleled in the history
of the world. Men parted with all that they had, sell-
ing even estates, and placing the proceeds at the disposal
of the apostles. While this showed the most ample
confidence in the teachers, it necessarily exposed the
apostles to a great deal of trouble and delicate manage-
ment. They must, from the outset, one w^ould think,
have appointed some of the converts to assist them, but
it soon became manifest that a permanent arrangement
was indispensable. Either from mere oversight, or from
the converted Jews of Judea preponderating in number,
so it was that suspicions and murmurs soon got up among
the converted Jews from foreign parts, who spoke the
Greek language, that their widows were neglected in the
daily ministration. In all probability the charge was
an unfounded one; but to provide against it and all
similar surmises, so injurious to the cause of Christianity,
and fitted so quickly to destroy the spirit of pre-eminent
harmony and love wdiich characterised the first Chris-
tians, the apostles considered it proper that officers
should be appointed for the express purpose of taking
charge of the poor and the general finance of the Church.
x\s a thing right in itself, and to give the people the
THE OFFICE OF DEACOX. 31
greater confidence in the deacons, the people were called
upon to elect. Having been informed by the apostles
of what were the necessary qualifications, they selected
seven ; and so well did the people choose, that Stephen,
the first, and one of the noblest of Christian martp's,
was in the number. The better to reassure the com-
plaining Hellenists, the disciples seem generally to
have voted for persons belonging to their party, and
hence the names are Greek names. Nothing can be
clearer than these statements. The origin of the office
explains its nature. We have not the slightest hint of
preaching or baptizing. Traces of these may appear, in
connection with the office of deacon, in Ecclesiastical
history, but they must be found in the Word of God
ere any weight can be attached to them.
Dr Neander does not think, that from the expression
" serving tables," it can be certainly inferred that the
apostles alluded only to the distribution oi food among
the poor widoAvs. He considers this merely one of the
tables of service which they performed, and that it is men-
tioned to mark more pointedly the distinction between
the oversight of spiritual and that of secular concerns.
It is plain, fi'om Scripture, that the whole work of the
deacon regarded the secular affiiirs of the Church, chiefly
the care of the poor. This is, if possible, made more
manifest by the circumstance that there seem to have
been female deacons, or deaconesses, in the early Church.
Paul, in the 16'th of Romans, ver. 1, commands Phoebe,
a deaconess, to the attention of the Christians at Rome.
tier office, v»'e may believe, would correspond to that of
the deacon, and as she is expressly forbidden, on reasons
assigned, to teach publicly in the Church, the inference
32 OF THE DIVINE AUTHORITY OF
is obvious, that he was equally unauthorised to undertake
this duty,'and if not permitted to preach the Word, much
less, may we believe, would he be permitted to admi-
nister baptism or the Lord's supper. We have very little
knowledge of the female deacon in Scripture, the passage
in Romans being the only one where it is distinctly
stated, but its very existence implies a corresponding
office among male members of the Church. Probably
it was intended to meet the peculiar circumstances of
some Gentile Church, in which, as in the East generally,
strong jealousies prevailed in connection with the female
sex. It is well known how anxious the heathen were
to disparage the claims of Christianity, by misrepresent-
ing the character of its professors. The discharge of
the duty of a deacon, in giving money to poor females,
might, in such circumstances, be open to misrepresenta-
tion, and hence the wisdom and delicacy of appointing
females to minister to their relief.
The only thing which is or can be alleged from
Scripture in behalf of the deacon being a preacher and
administrator of ordinances, is the fact that Philip, one
of the seven original deacons at Jerusalem, preached the
Gospel in Samaria, and baptized the eunuch of Ethiopia.
But the question is, did he preach or baptize in the
character of deacon ? Did preaching or baptizing form
any part of the original institution of the deaconship ?
It is not unknown among the offices of the New Testa-
ment, that a man should hold two, and sometimes act
in the character of the one, and sometimes in that of the
other. Thus, both Peter and John, who were apostles,
and so possessed an extraordinary office, which could
not be transmitted to others, were at the same time, as
THE OFFICE OF DEACON. 33
they themselves inform us, " elders" or presbyters,
— pastors — ordinary ministers — in which capacity they
could have successors, and transmit powers to all faith-
ful ministers lawfully called, to preach the same Gospel
^ruth. Though Philip, then, was a deacon, this did not
preclude him holding tmother office, and what that is,
we are informed in Acts xxi. 8, where he is expressly
called an Evangelist, an extraordinary office, which con-
stituted him who bore it the companion and assistant of
apostles, able to confer miraculous gifts on others, &c.
It was as evangelist, then, not as deacon, that Philip
preached and baptized; and this is the more certain,
when it is remembered that the office of deacon was,
as might have been expected, regarded as the humblest
in the Christian Church, and, where its duties were well
discharged, opened the way to a higher office. The
Apostle Paul, when treating of the subject, expressly
says, " They that have used the office of a deacon well,
purchase to themselves a good degree." There can be
little question then, that Philip, having acquitted him-
self excellently as a deacon at Jerusalem, when the
persecution arose with the death of Stephen, was clothed
with the higher office of Evangelist. It is certain that we
find him travelling about as a missionary in Samaria,
during which time he could not be acting the part of a
deacon, attending to the wants of the poor widows at
Jerusalem. When we next meet with him, at the
distance of 20 years, he is resident at Cesarea, and
bears the name of an Evangelist — a residence which
would equally unfit him for the deaconship to which he
had been originally appointed. In connection with
Philip's being denominated an evangelist, it may be
34 OF THE DIVINE AUTHORITY OF
noticed that, in Paul's summary of offices, " for the
perfecting of the saints," &c., there is no mention of
the deacon, ^vhich might have been expected had that
office embraced preaching and baptizing, with the care
of the poor. It is said, " And he," viz., the Lord Jesus,
" gave some, apostles ; and some, prophets ; and some,
evangelists ; and some, pastors and teachers" — evidently
including the ordinary as well as the extraordinary offices
— " for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the
ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ." 'There
is no reference to a preaching or baptizing deacon.
The case of Stephen, another of the seven, is some-
times appealed to. It is said that his address was
uttered as a preacher ; but there is not the slightest
evidence of this. He defended himself at the bar of
his enemies as any other good man, as any humble
female might have done in the same circumstances.
Nothing of a public official character appears. Indeed,
it would be the duty of all private Christians to lift up
a similar testimony for Christ at the present day, were
they persecuted in the same way. If the discourse of
Stephen constitutes him an ordained preacher of the
Word, and administrator of its ordinances, then all the
martyrs of Scotland, and of every other land, male and
female, have, in the same sense, been clothed with the
pastoral office. Few pretences can be more absurd than
that the deaconship involved more than, the care of
secular interests. Well may we conclude with Thomas
Scott, the commentator on the Scriptures, and a minister
of the Church of England, that the office of deacon was
evidently intended to take care of the propertij^ not of
the pastoral carc^ of the Church.
THE OFFICE OF DEACOX. 35
CHAPTER IV.
TESTIMONY OF ANCIENT ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY
TO THE OFFICE OF DEACON.
PART I.
With regard to the primitive Cliiirch, there seeras no
reason to doubt that, in its earliest and purest times, the
scriptural office of deacon was recognised and maintained
in its purity. Whether it was so or not, is of little con-
sequence as a matter of evidence, in as much as, Avith
all sound Protestants, where the testimony of Scrip-
ture is clear, the question is at an end, whatever may
have been the views or the practice of a fallible church
and fallible men in after ages. It is obvious, from the
inspired record, that the Christians in apostohc times
W'Cre called upon to lay by a portion of their pro-
perty on the first day of the week, as God had pros-
pered them, for the service of the Church and of the
poor. This, as a fixed practice in the Church, of which
every Sabbath, as well as the wants of their Christian
brethren and sisters, reminded them, was not likely soon
to be forgotten. Accordingly, down to the age of the
emperor Julian, the apostate, in the middle of the fourth
century (a.d. 3o0), it appears that the practice was uni-
versal. It was this which led the heathen to exclaim,
" Behold how these Christians love one another /' and
it was this which led Julian to say, " It is a shame that,
36 TESTIMONY OF ANCIENT ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY
when the impious Galileans relieve not only their own
people, but ours also, our poor should be neglected by
US." And again, " Beginning with their love-feasts and
the necessity of tables (for not only the name, but the
thing is common among them), they have drawn away
the faithful to impiety" — that is, heathens to Christianity.
No testimony could be more unexceptionable to a no-
torious fact. So systematic a procedure points to an
appropriate office.
To descend to more specific testimonies which name
the office of deacon : there is not only nothing said (so
far as I have been able to discover) in the strongest
passages bearing on the constitution of the Christian
Church, for the first 200 years after Christ, inconsist-
ent with the scriptural views of the office, but the allu-
sions of Clemens Romanus, Hermes, Polycarp, Ignatius,
Justin Martyr, and Clemens Alexandrinus, the primitive
writers of that period, are all in strict accordance with
the ecclesiastico-secular nature of the deaconship. No
candid man reading their testimonies, or rather allu-
sions, would ever dream of a preaching and baptizing
deacon. Even in Ignatius, supposing the epistles at-
tributed to him trustworthy, there are certainly three
offices spoken of. The three Presbyterian offices of
pastor, ruling elder, and deacon, however, are as na-
tural an explanation as any other. An unwarrantable
change in the nature of the office took place about the
middle of the third century (a. d. 250); but before, at,
and after that date, testimonies can be quoted indicating
how the office was contemplated by the apostolic Church.
Though few men, who have even partially explored
antiquity, and who are acquainted with the corruptions
TO THE OFFICE OF DEACON. 37
of the third century, will care much for authorities after
the A.D. 200; yet we may subjoin one or two notices.
The traces of incipient error will become the more ap-
parent. Tertulhan, a.d. 200, writing of baptism, says,
" The right of giving this ordinance belongs to the high-
est priest, who is the bishop, then to elders and dea-
cons^ yet not without the authority of the bishop, for
the sake of the honour of the Church." This being
secured, peace is secured, otherwise even the laity have
the right. This plainly shows that, in the time of Ter-
tullian, the deacon did not baptize as the deacon in
the Church of England now does, as a right belonging
to his office — that it was merely a permission from the
bishop or minister in cases of necessity, cases of such
necessity that even private Christians might baptize.
This indirectly proves that the deacon's office was still
confined to the serving of tables.
Cyprian, a.d. 250, in his 73d Epistle, says, " Whence
we understand that it is lawful for none but the presi-
dents of the Church (that is the pastors) to baptize and
grant remission of sins." Of course, this excludes the
baptizing deacon ; while the passage incidentally shows
that Cyprian's bishop or president of the Church is just
the parochial pastor. None will contend that the
diocesan bishop alone can baptize. Firmilian, a con-
temporary of Cyprian, in the 7oth Epistle of the latter,
could be quoted to the same effect.
The Rev. Mr Riddle, a minister of the Church of Eng-
land, in his " Ecclesiastical Chronology," under date a.d.
286, says, " The apostolic constitutions and canons are
generally supposed to be a forgery of about this date."
They probably contain remnants of earlier compositions,
but the work as a whole, although attributed to Clement
38 TESTLMONY OF ANCIENT ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY
of Rome, appears to have been compiled towards the
close of this century, with a view to support the fictitious
pretensions of bishops, and to assist the growth of Epis-
copal power. Many Episcopal writers found much
upon this w^ork ; and no wonder, since it smiles upon
their favourite views. Yet such notices of the office of
deacon occur as the following : — " The deacon must
give nothing to any poor man without the bishop's
knowledge and consent ;" evidently intimating that his
business lay with the distribution of charity. " If any
be found sitting out of his own place, let the deacon
reprove him, and let him be conducted to a proper
place. Let the deacons take care that none whisper,
sleep, laugh, nod, &c. After the catechumens and
penitents have retired, let the deacons prepare for the
celebration of the Eucharist." Here the deacons are
represented, not as an order of priesthood presiding, but
rather as taking a subordinate charge of the external
order and decorum of the Church — such as would com-
port with a secular office.
Jerome, a.d. 360, one of the most pious and learned
of the Fathers, asks, in his letter to Evragius, when
condemning a person who had raised deacons above
presbyters, " Who can endure it, that a minister of
tables and of widows should proudly exalt himself
above those at whose prayers the body and blood of
Christ is made?" plainly excluding deacons from being
an order of the clergy. I might refer to various ad-
ditional testimonies quoted by Rutherford, in his " Due
Right of Presbytery" — such as Sozomen's, that the
office of the deacon was to keep the Church's goods ;
Eusebius, that the care of the poor, and the keeping of
the Church and its vessels, were committed to the
TO THE OFFICE OF DEACON. ;39
deacons ; Ruffinus, that when there ivas no presbyter^
that is elder ^ present^ the deacons might distribute the
elements of the Lord's Supper ; but it is unnecessary.
I may merely state, that the sixth General Council of
Constantinople, a.d. 692, acknowledged '•''the Scripture
deacojis to be no other than overseers of the poo7\ and
that this wasthe ojjinion of the ancient fathers" — (Canon
16.) What a change, then, must notoriously have taken
place by this time on the original constitution of the
Christian Church! Neander, the celebrated German
professor of Church History, in his " History of the
Christian Church," p. 40, says, " Though many other
secular employments were added to the original one,
yet the fundamental principle (the relief of the poor), as
well as the name of the office remained. In later times
(referring to Cyprian and Origen), we still find traces of
the distribution of alms being considered as the peculiar
employment of deacons."
Do any, after all, wonder how an office plainly secular
should, so early as the middle of the third century, be
changed in its nature into the spiritual. We beg to
assure them that, to one acquainted mth the general
state of the early Chm'ch, there is nothing in this cir-
cumstance to awaken incredulity. By this time, apart
from doctrine, serious corruptions had been introduced
into the practice of the Church. In the third century,
Cyprian speaks of the administration of the Lord's Sup-
per to infants as a common practice ; while, within 50
years from the apostles, water was mixed with the w4ne
used in the Supper, and ere long this was contended for
as a divine institution ! Before the close of the second
century, subdeacons, acolythes, exorcists, and other lower
officers, quite unknown in the apostolic Church, had
40 TESTIMONY OF ANCIENT ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY
been introduced; while shortly after, other orders of
metropolitans — patriarchs, archbishops — all inconsistent
with the equality of bishops, and condemned by intel-
ligent Episcopalians as human inventions, appeared in
the higher circles of the Church. In the fourth century
the clerical imparity was established. In such circum-
stances, is it wonderful that the office of deacon should
be early corrupted from its simple original design ?
It is easy to see how, in the progress of degeneracy, the
office should be perverted from its original use. When
the pastor had become careless and slothful, and the
office of ruling elder unpopular, because calling for the
exercise of discipline had disappeared, it was natural
to devolve preaching and the administration of the
sacraments on the deacon ; while the bishop occupied
himself with the government of the Church, as at
once more easy and congenial. In the meantime, in
the progress of ambition the deacon would be nothing
loath to rise to a higher step, and assume what would
be considered more honourable functions. Possessing,
however, the key of the Church's chest, the office could
never be despised, in periods when the mercenary be-
came a marked feature in the Church's history. Hence
we find, that in the progress of decline the deacons were
converted into archdeacons, and, in a.d. 400, they were
next in influence to bishops, and so superior to many
pasters of the period. Their power rose as the Church
decayed in character. Riddle, in his "Ecclesiastical
Chronology," under A.D. 1072, says, "Archdeacons, as
representatives and commissioners of the bishops, were
guilty of many flagrant abuses of their station and in-
fluence,— an evil which subsequently led to the abridg-
ment of their authority, and the appointment of bishop's
TO THE OFFICE OF DEACON. 41
officials or vicars." TVhat a change was this from the
humble deacon of apostolic times — the meek dispenser
of alms to the poor turned into the representative and
commissioner of lordly bishops, who ruled the clergy of
a province with a rod of iron ! As the religious houses
were multiplied, and at once created and fed crowds of
beggars, the office of deacon, in its scriptural meaning,
would naturally perish.
I cannot do better, in concluding this part of the sub-
ject, than quote the words of a prelate of the Church
of England. The bishop (Croft), in his work entitled,
" Naked Truth," p. 49, says, " Whether this of deacon-
ship be properly called an order or an office, but certainly
no spiritual order ; for their office was to serve tables, as
the Scripture phrases, which, in plain English, is nothing
else but overseers of the poor, to distribute justly and
discreetly the alms of the faithful, which the apostles
would not trouble themselves withal, lest it should hin-
der them in the ministration of the word and prayer.
But as most matters of this world, in process of time,
deflect much from the original constitution, so it fell
out in this business ; for the bishops, who pretended to
be the successors to the apostles, by little and little, took
to themselves the dispensation of alms, — first, by way of
inspection over the deacons, but at length the total
management; and the deacons, who were mere lay
officers, by degrees crept into the Church ministration,
and became a reputed spiritual order, and a necessary
degree and step to the priesthood, of which I can find
nothing in Scripture and the original institution, nor a
word relating to any thing but the ordering of alms for
the poor." For additional extracts from this rare trea-
tise, vide Appendix.
42 TESTIMONY OF MODERN ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY
CHAPTER V.
TESTIMONY OF MODERN ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY
TO THE OFFICE OF DEACON.
PART II. CHURCHES OF THE REFORMATION.
When the Reformation of the 16th century dawned,
and men, abandoning human traditions, reverted to the
"Word of God as the exclusive standard, they clearly saw
the wisdom and obhgation of the office of deacon, as a
permanent institution of the Christian Church, and
proceeded forthwith to revive it in the Churches which
they were honoured to rear. Indeed, ages before the
Reformation, strictly so called, the AYaldenses bore
testimony to the office of deacon. They reach up
almost to apostolic times ; and yet Gillis, one of their
historians and pastors, gives us the confession of their
ancient as well as modem faith, from which these
words are an extract : — Art. 31, " It is necessary for the
Church to have pastors esteemed sufficiently learned and
exemplary in their conduct, as well to preach God's
"Word as to administer the sacraments, and watch over
the sheep of Jesus Christ ; together with the elders and
deacons^ according to the rules of good and holy Church
discipline, and the practice of the primitive Church."
There is not a word here of preaching and baptizing
deacons. On the contrary, this usurpation is excluded.
"Wickliffe, *' the Morning Star of the Refonnation," its
THE OFFICE OF DEACON. 43
precursor by nearly 200 years, held that there are but
two orders of clergy — the priest and the deacon — and
disclaims the bishops, ^\-ith the many other varieties of
imparity. It is probable that, by orders of clergy here,
he meant to be popularly understood as speaking of
office-bearers in the Church.
Tyndal, a.d. 1526, the first translator of the Scrip-
tures into Enghsh, and very appropriately a martyr for
his work, after speaking of the bishop or presbyter in
the primitive Church, says, '* Another officer they chose,
and called him deacon, after the Greek — a minister in
Enghsh — to minister alms to the poor." Lambert, a
martyr of the same reign, could be appealed to to the
same purpose ; and so might Archbishop Cranmer, and
many of his prelatic brethren, in " The Institution of
a Christian Man," which they approved and pubhshed
in 1537, and which maintains that there are only two
orders, deacons and presbyters. From the view which
is given of the pastoral and ministerial ftmctions of the
presbyter, it is plain that the other office points to a
different class of duties. Turning from Britain to the
Continent, we find Ursinus in Germany, the learned
contemporary of Luther and Melancthon, accurately de-
scribe the different office-bearers of the Church as a
Presbvterian would do, and conclude bv describinor the
deacons '• as ministers (or servants) elected by the
Church to take care of the poor and distribute alms."
Buddceus, another Lutheran, and eminent professor of
divinity at Leipsic, giving an account of the government
of his own church, mentions the office of deacon, and
asserts that it had been perverted, in process of time,
from the guardianship of the poor., to which it had
44 TESTIMONY OP MODERN ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY
been expressly devoted by the apostles. In accordance
with these views, the Lutheran Church, after all the
decline which it has experienced, adheres to the office of
deacon, not as an order of clergy, but as a guardian of
the poor, and, at the present day, administers their
aifairs through deacons in every congregation. So little
foundation is there for the idea of a clerical order of
deacons, that, if I am not misinformed, even the modern
Swedish Church, which is practically Episcopalian in its
government, disclaims the notion of deacons as an order
of ministers.
If we now pass to the Genevan and Swiss Churches,
Ave shall be at no loss to ascertain their sentiments on the
subject of the deaconship. Calvin, the great reformer,
to whom these and all the Churches of the Reformation
were deeply indebted, expresses himself with his usual
clearness and decision. In his celebrated " Institutes,"
published in 1536, he says (Book iv. chap. 3), in speak-
ing of the permanent offices of the Church, —
" The care of the poor is committed to the deacons.
Although the word deacon has a more extensive mean-
ing, yet the Scriptures expressly call them deacons to
whom the Church has given in charge the distribution of
alms and the care of the poor ; and hath appointed them,
as it were, stewards of the common treasury of the poor,
whose origin, institution, and office, are described by
Luke, in Acts vi., &c., &c. Behold what manner of
deacons the apostolic Church had, and what manner of
deacons it becomes us to have, in conformity to their
example." Again (Book iv. chap. 5), there is the fol-
loM'ing passage, in which he condemns the unscriptural
views of the office entertained by Prelatic churches : —
TO THE OFFICE OF DEACON. 45
" Now let the deacons come forth, and that holy dis-
tribution which they have of the Church's goods :
although they by no means, at present, create their
deacons for that purpose, for they (viz., the Roman
Catholics) enjoin upon them nothing else but to minister
at the altar, to read or sing the gospels, and to perform,
I know not what, trifles. Nothing of the alms^ nothing
of the care of the poor, nothing of the whole function
which in former times they executed. I speak of the
very institution ; for if we have a respect to what they
do, it is not in itself an oflice, but only a step towards
the priesthood. Therefore^ they mock the Church ivith
this lying deaconiy. Truly therein they have nothing
like either the institution of the apostles or ancient
usage."
In accordance with these views, we find that the
Second Confession of the Helvetic (Swiss) Churches,
published in 1566, strongly condemns unauthorised
offices in the Church, in these terms : — " In process of
time there were many more ministers brought into
the Church. For some were created patriarchs, others
archbishops, others suffragans, others metropolitans,
archpriests, deacons, subdeacons, acolythes, exorcists,
queristers, pastors, and I know not what a rabble be-
sides. Cardinals, provosts, and priors ; abbots, greater
and lesser ; governors, higher and lower ; but touching
all these, we pass not a rush what they have been in
time past, or what they are now. It is not sufficient
for us. Forasmuch as concerneth ministers, we have the
doctrine of the apostles." — Harmony of Confessions,
chap, xviii., p. 235 ; London, 1 643. The same admir-
able document, in reference to the point more immedi-
46 TESTIMONY OF MODERN ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY
ately before us, under the head of the " Goods of the
Church," has these sentences : — " The true use of the
Church goods was, and now is, to maintain learning in
schools and in holy assemblies, with all the service,
rites, and buildings of the Church ; finally, to maintain
teachers, scholars, and ministers, with other necessary
things ; and chiefiy for the succour and relief of the
poor. But for the lawful dispensing of these ecclesias-
tical goods, let men he chosen that fear God, wise men,
and such as are of good report for government of their
families. But if the goods of the Church, by injury of
the time, and the boldness, ignorance, or covetousness of
some, be turned to any abuse, let them be restored again,
by godly and wise men, unto their holy use, for they
must not wink at so impious an abuse. Therefore we
teach, that schools and colleges wherein corruption is
crept in doctrine, in the service of God, and in manners,
must be reformed — that there must order he taken
godlily, faithfully, and wisely, for the relief of the
poor." — (Cap. xxviii. p. 355-6.) It is plain, from the
Scripture qualifications referred to, that the men spoken
of in the above paragraphs are the deacons ; indeed,
they are elsewhere denominated " the overseers and
watchmen of the Church, who did distribute food and
other necessaries of the Church." It may be noticed,
in passing, that there was a peculiar call for such an
office as that of deacon at the period of the Reforma-
tion, and for many years after. Independently of
Scripture obligation, and the care of the poor, it was
urgently necessary to guard the general patrimony of
the Church against neglect, and also to prevent dila-
pidation and alienations. This duty could not be well
TO THE OFFICE OF DEACOX. 47
attended to by tlie ministers and elders without injury
to their spiritual office, and hence the propriety of com-
mitting it to the deacon. To give the greater weight
to the views of the Helvetic Confession, it may be
stated that it was approved and subscribed, not only by
the Tigurines (inhabitants of Zm-ich) themselves, and
their confederates of Berne, Scaphusia, Sangallia, Rhetia,
Milan, and Bienna, but Geneva, Savoy, Poland, and
likewise the Churches of Hungary and Scotland.
If from Switzerland we pass to France, and ask what
were the views of its illustrious Protestant Church on
the subject of the deacon — a Church which produced
many of the most able and learned ministers to whom
the Reformation gave birth — we find its sentiments con-
tained in these words : — Art. 29, " We believe that the
true Church ought to be governed by that regiment or
discipline which our Lord Jesus hath established, to
wit, so that there be in it pastors, elders, and deacons,
that the purity of the doctrines may be retained — vices
repressed — the poor^ and others that he in misery^ ac-
cording to their necessity^ may he provided for — and
that there may be holy meetings for the edifying both of
small and great." — [Harmony ^^. 253.) It is well known
that there is fearful mendicancy, especially in particular
districts of France, — not an occasional but constant evil.
There can be Httle question that it is the Popery of the
land, and not any thing in the character of the people
or constitution of the country, which lies at the root of
it. Few men M'ere ever more noted for their industry
and skill than the French Protestants. Some of the
most honoured names in the United States, whither they
were driven by persecution, belong to the number. Most
48 TESTIMONY OF MODERN ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY
of the countries of Europe, too, have heen indebted to
their perseverance and ingenuity. The French Church
seems to have made extensive use of the office of deacon.
In the account of " the Ecclesiastical Discipline of the
Reformed Churches in France" (London, 1642), there
are two chapters devoted to an exposition of their duties ;
a number of important points also, connected with the
administration of the office, are authoritatively deter-
mined. We are informed that " the office and duty of
the deacons is to receive, gather, and distribute, by the
advice of the consistory, the monies of the poor, the pri-
soners, and the sick ; and to visit and take care of them.
The office of deacon is not to preach the Word of God
nor to administer the sacraments; yet, nevertheless,
yor the necessity of the time^ may the consistory elect
and choose both some elders and deacons, to catechise
in the households ; they are forbid, however, to catechise
publicly ; are exhorted to exercise the office as long as
they can ; and are guarded against pretending to any
supremacy or domination over one another."
The spirit and language of the Confession of the Bel-
gic Churches, formed in 1566, are similar to those of
their French brethren. The Confession was revised and
approved by the Dutch Synod of Dort, in 1618 and
1619. " We believe," say the Protestant Presbyterians
of Belgium, " that this true Church ought to be governed
by that spiritual regiment which our Lord hath taught us
in his Word, viz., that there be ministers or pastors to
preach God's Word and to administer the sacraments ;
that there be also elders and deacons, who, together with
the pastors, might make up, as it were, an ecclesiastical
senate ; that by these means true religion might be pre-
TO THE OFFICE OF DEACON. 49
served, and true doctrine propagated every where ; that
offenders be censured and restrained in a spiritual way ;
that likewise the poor and affiicted be relieved with aid
and comfort, according to the several necessities of every
one ; so that all things in the Church be done decently
and in order, when faithful men shall be chosen accord-
ing to the rule prescribed by Paul in the Epistle to
Timothy." — Ecclesiastical Discipline, p. 62.
The Dutch Church is not less clear. Junius, one of its
earliest and most learned professors of divinity, a contem-
porary of the first reformers, writes fully on the subject
of Church government. He maintains that pastors,
ruling elders, and deacons, are the only three scriptural
orders of Church officers, that they are set forth in the
Word of God, and existed in the primitive Church.
Of deacons he says, that they " are appointed to collect
and distribute the alms of the Church." At a later
day, three eminent professors of theology, Polyander,
Thysius, and Walseus, in a joint work (" Synopsis
Theologige Disputat." 42), maintain the same doctrine.
They contend that the deacon is of apostolic institution —
that he is intrusted with the Church's treasure — that it
is his duty to take care of the poor. They expressly
declare that they considered the Church of Holland, in
retaining these officers, as following the example of the
Apostolic Church.
Passing from the testimony of individuals to more
authoritative documents, we find that the Synod of Dort,
composed of some of the most learned divines who were
ever assembled, several from foreign countries, solemnly
declaring that the true Church must be governed by that
spiritual policy which our Lord hath taught in his Word,
50 TESTIMONY OF MODERN ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY
and that it comprehends " elders and deacons^ who, to-
gether with the pastor, form the council of the Church."
— Netherlands Confession, Art. 30. And still farther,
in the "Corpus Disciplina3" of the Dutch Churches (Lon-
don, 1 645, pp. 8,4), there is a section devoted to deacons.
The foUoAving are some of the points : — " Their office is
diligently to collect and preserve the alms and other
means belonging to the poor ; they are to distribute the
same, faithfully and discreetly, according to the need of
such as are in want, whether inhabitants or strangers,
by common consent and plurality of voices ; to visit and
comfort the needy, and to look that the alms be not
misemployed." The form for ordaining elders and
deacons is given in four pages (37-41). The same
" discipline" is observed by the Dutch Churches in Bri-
tain, as well as in their native country.
In harmony with these things, it appears from Dr
Stevens' " Brief View of the Dutch Ecclesiastical Esta-
blishment," 1838, that the office of deacon is in vigorous
operation in the Dutch Church at the present day.
Those who hold it in larger towns, have a court of meet-
ing of their own, and so important is the office deemed,
that in conjunction with the elders, the deacons have the
appointment of the ministry. It is doubtless in part
owing to the importance attached to the office, and its
excellent services, that the poor of Holland are, it is
generally understood, among the best attended to in
Europe.
It is unnecessary to refer to the testimony of other
Reformed Churches. That of Scotland will be consi-
dered separately. It may simply be mentioned, that the
Puritan or Presbyterian Church of England of the 1 7th
TO THE OFFICE OF DEACON. 51
century, entered into the same views of the office of
deacon as the earher Churches of the Reformation. The
form of Church government agreed upon at Westmin-
ster, and adopted by the General Assembly of the Church
of Scotland in 1 645, is an ample proof of this ; as also
the writings of the Presbyterian ministers of London,
who always contended for the office of deacon as distinct
from others, and permanent in the Christian Church. —
Vide Jus Divinum Regiminis Ecclesiastics. London,
1646, pp. ]60, 161.
In concluding this part of the subject, and in connec-
tion with the above, it may be noticed that the Non-
conformists of New England did not differ from their
brethren in this country. On some points of Church
government there may have been diversity of opinion,
but here they were at one. In the platform of Church
government agreed upon at Cambridge, in 1649, the
deacon is spoken of in these terms : — " The office and
work of a deacon is to receive the offerings of the
Church, gifts given to the Church, and to keep the
treasury of the Church, and therewith to serve the tables
which the Church is to provide for, as the Lord's table,
the table of the ministers, and of such as are in neces-
sity, to whom they are to distribute in simplicity. The
office, therefore, being limited unto the care of the tem-
poral good things of the Church, it extends not to the
attendance upon and administration of the spiritual
things thereof, as the word, the sacraments, and the
like." — (Cap. viii.) Under the title of " Heads of agree-
ment assented to by the United Ministers, formerly
called Presbyterian and Congregational," we find, that
upon the office of deacon they are entirely at one.
52 TESTIMONY OF MODERN ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY
It may be added that, with mconsiderable exceptions,
the Congregational Churches, both of this country and
of the United States, have in all ages agreed with the
Presbyterian Church throughout the Avorld in regard to
the deacon. In many cases, from particular circum-
stances, the power of the deacon may have been, and
may be, too extensive as compared with pastors, and lie
may be admitted to the function of teaching and ex-
horting ; but in this case, it is not as deacon^ but as
Christian brother, that he teaches. In almost every
case, the principle is, that the office of deacon is a secu-
lar office, and has no connection with the preaching
of the word or the administration of the sacraments.
This, we maintain, is the indubitable doctrine of Scrip-
ture on the point. Hence it appears that the whole
Presbyterian and Congregational Churches of the world,
forming a vast proportion of the entire Protestant com-
munion, though diffi-ring upon other points, are here
unanimous. Surely this is no small testimony in behalf
of the office as a scriptural office, the more especially
when taken in connection with the views of the Churches
of the Reformation from the earliest periods. On the
other hand, surely it is little to say of any Protestant
Church, that, looking through Christendom, she can
find none but the Church of Rome to countenance her
in her views of an important office in the Church of
Christ, — an office, upon the correct administration of
which, the most important results are suspended.
Whether is it the more likely that the harmony is the
harmony of the truth, or the harmony of error ?
ON THE (*rALIPICATI0N3 OF DEACONS, ETC. 53
CHAPTEE VL
ON THE QUALIPICATIOyS OF DEACONS, AND MODE
OF APPOINTMENT.
Clearly as the Divine authority of the office of deacon
may be made out, a most important inq^uiry remains. —
what are the quaHfications for the discharge of the dnries
of the office ? Without these the office degenerates into
a mere name. Happily we can be at no loss to know.
.Scripture is yery ftdl on the subject, and we cannot do
better, in the following observations, than make a few
remarks on its requirements. The simple circumstance,
that so many of the qualifications which the inspired
volume demands in the deacon, it also demands for the
bishop or pastor, is a plain proof of the high use and
estimation of the office. Stirely it cannot be proper for
us, or for any Christian Church, to neglect what the
"^Vord of God so strongly recommends : so much in-
spired writing was not intended to be in vain 1 Super-
natural gifts, in primitive times, doubtless made up for
some qualities which now must be obtained by ordinary
means, — such as a fair education fitting for the usual
busine^ of life. It is taken for granted that deacons
possess this measure of knowledge and its instruments.
Without them they would be obviously unfit for the
management of the business of the poor, and of the
D
54 ON THE QUALIFICATIONS OF DEACONS,
Church. These, to allude to nothing higher, demand
arithmetic. It may be added, that it is not enough to
possess some of the qualities in considerable force ; it is
necessary that the individual enjoy a fair share of them
all. Apart from this, he cannot be a good deacon,
whether in town or in country parishes.
Let us now advert to the qualifications which Scrip-
ture has detailed. At the original institution three
were mentioned. The seven deacons were required to
be men, 1*^, of honest report; 2f?, full of the Holy
Ghost ; 3rf, of wisdom. In a case on which the peace
of the Church, and the welfare of its private members
w^ere obviously suspended, superior character was essen-
tial. It was necessary, first of all, that the deacons be
men of tried integrity, of an honesty which was above all
suspicion. Money and other delicate interests were to be
committed to them — interests as to which their fellow-
men were peculiarly jealous; hence, it was necessary
not only that they be honest, but of honest report, that
they should bear a good reputation among the members
of the Church, and in society generally. Though a
man be of the strictest integrity in heart and conduct,
yet if he do not sustain a blameless reputation with
others, he is not fit for the deaconship. Next, they
were to be men of the Holy Ghost, men of decided
piety, under the teaching and sanctifying grace of the
Spirit. This is essential to animate with that activity,
love, fidelity, zeal, and perseverance which the duties of
the office demand. It is only true piety which, during
a long succession of years, will sustain the heart in ten-
derness to the poor amid trials and difficulties, and
which will uphold the deacon in the unwearied, and
AND MODE OF APPOIXTMENT. 55
sometimes unrequited care of the house of God. And,
lastly, he is to be a man of wisdom, a man of discern-
ment and prudence, not carried away by the impulse
of his feelings ; but one able intelligently to judge be-
tween real and unreal cases of indigence, the proportion
and manner in which charity should be dispensed, the
best advice which the circumstances, not only of the
poor, but of the Church generally, in perplexing seasons
may require. Such were the comprehensive qualifica-
tions for which the apostles called, and they did not call
in vain. Seven men were immediately found who bore
them all. In Stephen and Philip, the only persons of
whom we have any farther notice, the developement of
spiritual character and usefulness is deeply interesting.
Their names are suf&cient to honour the new order of
deacons.
But from the earliest let us turn to a later statement
of qualifications, detailed by Paul in the 3d chapter of
1 st Timothy. They are more minutely given, but there
is no inconsistency with the former.
1. The deacons were to be grave, not austere or
morose, but of dignified gravity. Few things are more
injurious to Christian influence, or more unsuitable for
one whose business it is to deal in cases of distress
and Christian distress, than levity, or even excessive
pleasantry and lightheartedness. All instinctively feel
that this is unbecoming. It never recommends the
Gospel or the Christian Church to the favour of any.
2. They must not be double-tongued, — in other words,
they must be sincere. A deacon, to be relieved from
the annoyances sometimes connected with the discharge
of his duties, is tempted to put the poor off with in-
56 ON THE QUALIFICATIONS OF DEACONS,
sincere words — to say one thing to one man, and an
opposite to another. He is in danger also, perhaps, of
promising to the pastor, and not fulfilling. This is justly-
fatal to character and to usefulness. It prevents confi-
dence and creates contempt. The deacon, then, must be
sincere.
3. It is not less essential that he be temperate.
Fresh from the corruptions of Heathenism, not a few
of the primitive Christians were exposed to tempta-
tions, which we would scarcely expect to find asso-
ciated with the name of office-bearers in the Church.
The deacon must not be given to too much wine. His
office m9,y sometimes carry him into social meetings,
but he must shun every tendency to excess. Intemper-
ance not only destroys credit, and unfits for the dis-
charge of official duty ; it mars religious character ; it
unfits for devotion, and lays the man open to a multi-
tude of other sins. Who can conceive any thing more
incongruous than a drunkard to be a distributor of alms
to the pious poor, and a leading manager in the external
affiiirs of the house of God, paying the minister, &c, ?
4. He must be free from avarice, — not greedy of
filthy lucre. Considerable sums pass through the dea-
con's hands for the use of the poor and of the Church.
He will, if he seeks them, find opportunities for mis-
appropriation and embezzlement ; hence the importance
of being superior to the temptations of avarice, both for
his own sake, and to encourage the Church members
to give liberally. I need say nothing of the incongruity
of a hard-hearted, narrow-fisted deacon, starving the
poor, keeping the minister in pecimiary anxieties, and
all the while secretly enriching himself. "What charac-
AND MODE OF APPOINTMENT. 57
ter can be more detestable ? what spirit more fatal to
every thing which deserves the name of religion ?
5. He must be well acquainted with the doctrines of
the Gospel. This is the meaning of " holding the mystery
of the faith." His previous qualifications imply a know-
ledge of divine truth ; but his knowledge must be supe-
rior. He must be familiarly acquainted with the gospel
of salvation, so that he may be able to speak of it, and
to commend it to others, especially when dealing out
among them the donations of charity. A pious intelli-
gent deacon may, in giving, make his alms preach.
He may, from the bread which perisheth, mount
up to the true bread which came down from heaven,
and bestow upon the indigent better gifts than money.
But,
6. The knowledge of the Gospel is not enough.
The Christian Church is apt to err in regard to the
spiritual character of deacons. Drawing a just distinc-
tion between their office and that of the ruling elder,
she may sometimes be tempted to speak as if good
moral character, apart from piety, would suffice for the
deaconship ; but this is a serious mistake. While the
office of elder demands superior Christian excellence,
every office in the Church requires, and should possess
decided piety. Not only is this indispensable for the
deaconship itself, but because the office may be a step to
a higher. Hence the apostolic counsel and quahfica-
tion. The well qualified deacon must hold the mystery
of the faith " in a pure conscience." He must be
strongly and conscientiously attached to it. He must
be prepared to make sacrifices for it. He must not
abandon it for the world, — in short, he must be con-
58 ON THE QUALIFICATIONS OF DEACONS,
scientious and resolute. What a comfort to a faithful
pastor, to feel himself surrounded by such deacons.
While the poor do not suffer, what a strengthening
does an office -hearer of this character impart to the
Church, and to those associated in the same labours
with him. How must the deep and unalterable im-
pression of gospel truth, too, upon the heart sustain
under difficulties and perplexities, and encourage him
to persevere in his work.
7. The deacon must be proved previously to entering
on his labours. The office is highly important and res-
ponsible. Every one is not qualified for its duties,
and yet his unfitness may not be immediately obvious.
Hence the advantage of an antecedent trial. The very
fact of resorting to it proclaims the seriousness of the
duties, while it provides that the Church shall always
enjoy the services of the most able officers. It seems
to be intended that the deacon shall be a young man
as compared with the elder. Hence, by Mosheim and
others, nonfat, young men is interpreted of deacons.
This renders any invidiousness connected with a preli-
minary probation less felt.
8. The deacon must be the husband of one wife.
Not that he must always be married (though a man
who knows from experience what family ties are, will
better sympathize in the family distresses of the poor),
but that when he is married he must have but one wife.
It may seem singular to us, that such an exhortation
should be necessary in connection with any office-bearer
of the Church, but we must remember that the great
body of the early Christians consisted of those who had
recently been Heathens. In these circumstances, there
AND MODE OF APPOINTMENT, 59
was no small danger even of renewed men retaining, or
thinking lightly of Pagan customs most discreditable to
Christianity. Hence the qualification before us. It is
scarcely necessary to add, that the great original law of
marriage, binding in all ages, is one wife to one husband,
— that there is no approval of polygamy in the Word of
God, — that most of those who practised it in Old Testa-
ment times suffered for it — that there is only one case
recorded for the first 2000 years of the world's history,
and that apparently associated with crime and the Di-
vine displeasure. Even were the practice lawful, it is
plain, that in a deacon it would be most unwarrantable,
and occupy time and attention which should be devoted
to the interests of the poor and of the Church. Be-
sides, apart from other things, it would draw many seri-
ous evils along with it.
9. The last qualification of character which is de-
manded of the deacon, is ruling well his own family —
" Ruling their children and their own houses well."
This may seem a small matter in a public servant of the
Church, but both as indicative of character and con-
ducing to usefulness, it is most important. The deacon
is, to a certain extent, a ruler ; and it is the principle of
God's providence to prepare men for a higher govern-
ment by previous success in a lower. Those who acquit
themselves well in the humbler, will be found the best
qualified for the higher relations of life. Hence the im-
portance of deacons ruling their own houses well. It
will train them for public usefulness. And more than
this. There are few things which, in the estimation of
the world, discredit the head of a house more than hav-
ing no authority at home, and bringing up a disorderly
60 ON THE QUALIFICATIONS OF DEACONS,
and disliked family of children. The men of the world
often boast, in this respect, of their good management,
and have no patience for slovenliness and unruliness on
the part of professed Christians, and especially Church
office-bearers. Few things recommend religion and its
friends more than excellence in the relative duties of
life. No wonder, then, that Paul sums up the qualifi-
cations of the deacon in ruling his own family well.
Such are the scriptural (jualifications for the office of
deacon; and, combined together, what an interesting
and estimable character do they form ! how important
and useful to the Church and to society ! Though nu-
merous, they are not rare or inaccessible in the Christian
Church. Sound piety, intelligence, a talent for business,
tenderness for the poor, and good management at home,
embrace the leading points. Let these in any fair mea-
sure be present, and no one who is called to the office
should hesitate to accept. Let none despise the office.
The apostle Paul evidently regards it as of high value ;
and important as it is, he teaches the deacon to aspire after
a sphere of more extensive usefulness. He calls upon
deacons, by their diligence, intelligence, zeal, perseverance,
and other good qualities, to approve themselves meet for
the higher and more spiritual offices of the Church —
those of the ruling elder and the pastor. He would have
them thus to " purchase for themselves a good degree."
Surely it is to the honour of the office of deacon that it
is not only good in itself, but is a step and a prepara-
tion for higher good.
Connected with the qualifications, we may shortly
notice the mode op appointment to the office. These
AND MODE OF APPOINTMEIsT. 61
go together. One of the reasons why the quahfications
are so fully unfolded in Scripture, is, not only that the
deacon may he instructed in his duties, but that the
Christian Church may he taught what sort of men she
should call to the office. Happily nothing can be more
clear than the testimony of Scriptm-e as to the mode of
appointment. There may be diversity of opinion as to
other offices, but there can be none in regard to the
deacon ; and many will judge that it sets forth the prin-
ciple on which all appointments to permanent Church
offices should be made so conspicuously, that no differ-
ence of opinion ought to remain respecting any of them.
When it was necessary to institute the deaconship,
how did the gi'eat Head of the Church proceed ? The
inspired apostles were present, and could, in virtue of
their spiritual gifts, among which, the discernment of
spirits was one, have easily pointed out the men of best
qualification. Was this the mode pursued ? No. The
apostles called upon the Church members, the commu-
nicants, to elect ; and that though they had been so
recently formed into a church, that they could scarcely
be supposed to know much of each other. Then it is
worthy of remembrance, that they were called upon to
judge, not as to common-place qualifications — the mere
honesty and general decency of the parties, but of spiri-
tual quali^cations — whether they were men of the Holy
Ghost, and of divine wisdom, and of honest report.
Here, then, the members of the Christian Church, in the
presence of the apostles, though but partially acquainted
with each other, were required to judge of spiritual
qualifications. What can better teach us the mode in
which the Spirit of God would have men elected to the
62 ON THE QUALIFICATIONS OF DEACONS,
deaconship ? Does not this recognise, and that in un-
favourable circumstances, the abihty of the Christian
people to judge of spiritual character ? — and if so, why
should this principle he excluded in any case ? The
apostles not only did not themselves nominate, they did
not call upon the elders or the more known and influen-
tial Christians to elect — they threw the choice entirely
upon the members of the Christian Church, however
humble and poor ; and in doing so were they disap-
pointed in the result ? Did the people fall into factions,
divisions, confusion ? Did they choose unsuitable men —
men so obviously unfit for the duties, that the apostles
found it necessary to interpose their authority and pre-
vent the appointment being completed ? No, Their
choice was marked by the greatest wisdom. We have
no reason to believe that the apostles could have im-
proved it. Philip, w^ho conducted himself with such
propriety that he afterwards rose to the high distinction
of being an Evangelist — an extraordinary office-bearer
in the Church — the companion and assistant of apostles,
was one of the number ; and Stephen, the first, and we
may say the most illustrious of martyrs — at once meek
and heroic and divinely acknowledged, was another.
See, then, how admirably the Christian people chose ;
and if the same parties are judged not qualified to elect
deacons now, is it not plain that either Christians are
not now wliat the primitive Christians were, or that
they are maligned ? Whichever be the case, there is no
authority for the Church withholding from them a pri-
vilege which tbe Spirit of God bestowed, and which
experience and history prove them amply able to exer-
cise aright.
AND MODE OP APP0INT3IENT. 63
It is to misapprehend the case to say that men may
be safely intrusted with elections which concern pro-
perty^ but that they are not trustworthy in calling to a
spiritual office. Here it is taken for granted that men s
love of money will prevent them from making an impro-
per choice — such a choice as would run any hazard of
endangering it. But it is forgotten that the property in
the case before us was not the property of individuals but
of the Church — a large body ; and experience can attest
whether appointments to this sort of trust be always scru-
pulous and exact. Besides, the qualifications in regard
to which the apostles required the Christian people to
judge were not mere financial business, property qualifi-
cations, but moral and spiritual qualities.
Though there can be little doubt that the appointment
to the office of deacon, so long as its scriptural character
was retained, was like those of the pastor or bishop in pri-
mitive times, the popular call of the Church, yet this order
does not seem to have been observed in all the churches of
the Reformation. From the " Discipline" of the French
and Dutch Churches, about the middle of the 17th
century, it would appear that at the first institution of
deacons, the Christian people were to nominate, but that
afterwards the order might be kept up by the appointment
of the consistory, subject to the approval of the congrega-
tion. In other Churches the practice w^as different. The
First Book of Discipline of the Church of Scotland (1 560)
contemplated the fi-ee election of the Christian people,
and the Belgic (1566) followed the same order. " We
believe," says the Belgic Confession, " that the ministers,
elders, and deacons ought to be called to those their
functions, and, by the lawful election of the Church,
64 ON THE QUALIFICATIONS OF DEACONS,
to be advanced into those offices — earnest prayer being
made unto God, and after the order and manner which
is set down to us in the "Word of God. This especially
every one ought to take dihgent heed of, that he do not
by unlawful means thrust himself into those offices;
for every one must wait until he be called of God him-
self, that he may have a certain testimony of his vocation,
and may know that it is from the Lord." — Harmony of
Confessions, sect. 11.
However the popular call was exercised, whether more
or less fully, 'the separation and ordination to the office
were solely in the hands of the regular Church courts.
So it was in apostolic times. The people chose the dea-
cons, and set them before the apostles, but they went no
farther. They did not ordain the seven. This was left
to the apostles and their successors in the ministry as
their appropriate work. The following remarks on this
point, by the late Rev. Dr Dick, professor of theology to
tlie United Secession Church, are just and seasonable : —
" The right of the people extended no farther than the
election of the deacons. They had no power to exercise
in their appointment to office. Their separation to it, their
investiture with authority to perform its duties, was the
province of the apostles. ' Look ye out seven men whom
ive may appoint over the business.' It is the ordinance
of Christ that to those who sustain any office in the
Church, authority shall be transmitted from himself, its
original source, by the medium of its ministers and rulers.
The exclusion of the private members from any share
in the transmission, is clearly marked in the passage
before us. The limits are distinctly drawn — the people
elected^ and the apostles appointed. We never read in
AND MODE OF APPOINTMENT. 65
the Scriptures that there is a power lodged in the Church
at large to preach the Gospel, administer the sacraments,
and govern itself. This power was committed to apostles,
prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers, whom Jesus
Christ has given to the Church, as an absolute sovereign
delegates his authority to certain persons, bearing such
titles and exercising such functions as he is pleased to
confer upon them. — Eph. iv. 12; iCor. xii. 28. When
a voluntary society is to be formed, the members first
meet and determine what shall be the form of govern-
ment, and who shall be the governors ; but in the case
of the Church the governors were before the society.
The Christian Church did not exist when the apostles
received their commission, and those who at present bear
rule in it are their successors in eveiy thing pertaining to
their office which was not extraordinary. It is manifest,
therefore, that their power does not flow from the people,
unless an express law^ can be produced, altering the origi-
nal constitution, and ordaining, that though the apostles
received "the keys of the kingdom" immediately from
Christ, and the first office-bearers derived their power
from the apostles, it should be afterwards communicated
to the Church in its collective capacity." — Lectures on
the Acts of the Apostles, p. 138.
66 ON THE DUTIES OF DEACON.
CHAPTER VII.
ON THE DUTIES OP DEACON.
We now come to the consideration of the duties of the
deaconship. These have, in part, been already indirectly-
noticed. The nature and importance of the office imply
some acquaintance with its duties, but they deserve a
separate reference. The leading duty of the office is ob-
viously the care of the poor. Here a question, however,
arises : What poor ? Is it the general poor of the com-
munity, whether religious or irreligious, or is the office
intended only for the Christian poor ? This is a very
important inquiry. There can be no doubt that the
poor members of the congregation are the peculiar ob-
jects of the deacon s care, and are, it may be, entitled
to a higher provision ; but the question is — Is the dea-
con to exclude all other poor from his special regard ?
Some have contended that this is the proper mode of
management — that there is no authority in the New
Testament for the deacon watching over any poor but
the Christian poor ; and cases are appealed to where
the limitation of his attention, or that of the elder (who
usually takes the charge of the poor in Scotland), to this
class, has been attended with the best results, relieving
the elder from many distracting duties, and leaving him
free for the discharge of his more appropriate spiritual
calling. There may be plausibility in this view, but it
ON THE DUTIES OF DEACON. 67
is apprehended nothing more. The circumstances of the
Christian Church, in apostolic and in present times, are
ev-identlj yerj different. In the former case, she stood,
except in Judea, in the heart of heathenism, and every
where unrecognised by the State. It could not be ex-
pected that her humble members were to take charge of
all the pagan poor who surrounded them in multitudes.
This, in the nature of things, was impossible, and hence
there is no scriptural example of it. There could be no
such example, and it is unreasonable to demand it. At
the same time, the Church required her members to do
good to all^ especially to such as were of the household
of faith. The circumstances of the Christian Church at
the present day are widely different. Besides her own
poor, she is surrounded with many poor who do not
belong, by living membership, to her communion, but
w^ho make a profession of Christianity ; most of whom
have received Christian baptism ; many of whom have
but temporally fallen away from Christian ordinances,
owing to the pressure of circumstances, and may, ere
long, be restored. There is no authority in Scripture
for restricting the donations of the deacon to poor com-
municants; and unless this be made a test (on other
grounds undesirable), there is no very well-defined
principle by which poor, professing Christianity, can
in one party be received, and another party be denied
the good offices of the deacon. Besides, the nation not
only recognises Christianity, but has territorially di-
vided the country, and given the charge of its moral
and religious interests (into which the management of
the poor seriously enters) to the Church of Scotland.
It is obvious, then, that there is a very marked distinction
68 ON THE DUTIES OF DEACON.
between the circumstances of the Christian Church in
primitive and in present times — so marked, that it would
be unfair and inconclusive to draw serious inferences from
the one to the other, especially if the inferences be on
the side of restricting the duty of the office-bearers of the
Church.
It may be true, that such a mode of management as
that refeiTcd to may, to take the illustration from a large
town, where above 700 poor were parcelled out among 80
or 40 elders, have been a greater improvement. This may,
in the nature of things, have been demanded. No elders
could be expected to bear such a burden for a succession
of years ; but the question is — Was the change a wise
one ? Was it in the right direction ? It may have re-
lieved the elders, and not only reduced the charge of
700 to a charge of 150, but made the work among
them much more pleasant. To deal with 150 poor
communicants must be a much more agreeable employ-
ment to a Christian mind, than dealing with indiscri-
minate poor, many of whom have no tie to the Christian
Church. The change may have improved the eldership
both in numbers and quality ; but the question recurs
— Was it good for the poor ? Would it be advanta-
geous to roll over the care of the far larger body of the
poor on overseers who have no religious qualifications of
character — who may be Christians, or who may be Infi-
dels. It appears, from the Reports of the Poor Law
Commissioners in England, that very many of the over-
seers were eminently illiterate, ignorant, and inefficient,
before the recent change. Would it be desirable to
commit to the tender mercies of such persons, the care
of multitudes of poor, many of them religiously edu-
ON THE DUTIES OF DEACON. 69
cated, who have fallen into poverty, but who now can-
not claim any connection with a Christian Church?
Would this tend to soften their day of adversity, or to
improve their character, and aid their restoration ? The
true remedy for such cases as those referred to, is not to
relieve the deacon or elder at the expense of the poor,
but, by the multiplication of deacons, to make the labour
of all manageable. Let them be sufficiently numerous,
and then no one will be burdened ; while the poor will
enjoy the services of Chnstian men, and of an office
which the Great Head of the Church has himself insti-
tuted, and which it may be expected, therefore. He vdll
especially bless. We conclude, then, that in a country
professing Christianity, and where the Church occupies
such a position as that of the Church of Scotland, her
deacons should attend to the wants of all the poor.
With the exception of the larger towns, the great mass
of these poor make some sort of profession of Chris-
tianity— a profession which it is not desirable to cast
aside or despise. Besides, it is an honourable light in
which Christianity is presented, when she appears as
the friend of the poor, even those who do not make a
profession of religion. It is fitted to recommend her to
general favour, while it supplies office-bearers of the
Church with excellent opportunities of doing good to
the soul when attending to the wants of the body. It
Avould not be creditable to the Christian Church, to
say that a large number whom she had baptized she
cast aside, so far as her official care was concerned, to
perish. This would surely not recommend her claims to
the irreligious or the infidel, the more especially, if it
appeared that there was a sufficient number of persons,
70 ON THE DITTIES OF DEACON.
in most congregations, to act as intelligent deacons.
Where such office-bearers cannot be obtained, of course
this alters the case ; but it is a conclusion at which no
parish or congregation should hastily arrive. So much
for the poor who fall under the superintendence of the
deacon ; and now let us shortly advert to the mode in
which he should treat them.
First of all, he should visit them in their own houses.
It is believed that deacons, and elders who act as deacons,
often, if not generally, content themselves, after they are
satisfied with the circumstances of their poor, with giving
the donations at the deacon's house. This may often
be done with perfect safety and propriety; but it seems
very desirable, for the sake of moral and religious influ-
ence, that the deacon should occasionally, if not fre-
quently, give the charity in the houses of the poor. This
would give an opportunity of knowing the real character
and condition of the parties — it would tend to prevent
deception — it would be well taken by the poor, and draw
forth their regards for the deacon. It would also afford
an opportunity for mingling prayers with alms, which,
from the case of Cornelius recorded in Scripture, seems
to have been not only a beautiful but an efficacious com-
bination. There would be greater scope, too, for con-
sultation and advice as to themselves and their families,
than can be had when a number of poor are assembled
together like so many mendicants.
And, secondly, the deacon should feel it to be his duty,
not only to minister to the actual wants of the poor, but
to give that counsel and open up those facilities in his dis-
trict which may prevent poverty, or tend to restore those
who have fallen to decay. Happily much may be done
ON THE DUTIES OF DEACON. 71
in this way in the age in which we live. In most towns
there are a variety of institutions for the relief of disease,
such as dispensaries, infirmaries, &c. To meet particular
wants at certain seasons of the year, there are societies for
clothing and fuel. There are-also friendly societies and
provident institutions for accumulating the savings, not,
perhaps, of the poor,butof classes which may become poor.
There are schools, too, for the education of children — the
Sabbath and week-day school for ail — the evening class
for those whose education has been neglected. By mak-
ing himself master of all the means of humane, literary,
economical, and religious good in his district or town, and
becoming acquainted also with the respective managers,
an intelligent deacon may do much to prevent poverty
and suffering, and greatly mitigate them where they exist.
He may likewise open up many channels of communica-
tion between different ranks in society, — and, by finding
situations and emplo}Tnent for those who have no occu-
pation, and acquainting the working classes with means
of improving their condition, and strongly recommending
the savings' bank when they are in circumstances to save,
and discouraging to the uttermost whatever is fitted to
waste the means and resources of the people — the spirit
shop and the pawnbroking establishment, &c., — he may
not only win the confidence of the families of his district,
but really enrich them to an extent which silver and gold
cannot estimate. As an illustration of what may be
done to prevent poverty, I beg to refer the reader to the
working of an association at Manchester, to which there
is reference in the Appendix. It is plain that what is
here done by volunteers might be done most appropri-
ately by deacons, and that, being office-bearers in the
72 ON THE DUTIES OF DEACON.
Christian Church, they would fulfil the duty with greater
effect.
It may be desirable to be a little more particular. I
have said that one very important way in which deacons
might promote the welfare of the humbler classes, would
be by assisting them to husband their own resources, and
directing them to the best means of doing so. This may
be accomplished in various forms, particularly by the
Friendly Society, the Savings' Bank, and the Loan Fund :
each possesses its appropriate recommendation. Men in
the middle and higher ranks of life enjoy the benefit of
all these institutions, where they choose to avail them-
selves of them. Why should not the poor man have the
same ? TJie friendly society corresponds to the in-
surance company. It presents many advantages to the
poorer classes, and they have, to a large extent, availed
themselves of them ; but much more might be done in
this way than has yet been attempted. As there have
not unfrequently been disappointments, owing to such
societies being founded on insufficient principles, the
counsel of an intelhgent deacon might be highly useful
in directing to safe institutions, and guarding against the
insecure. Though the security which a friendly society
supplies is most important to all, especially to the family
of a poor working man, some may not be able always to
command the periodical payment which is required, or
they may grudge to pay into its funds for many years,
without having any certainty that they will need the
benefits Avhich it holds out. To this numerous class the
savings' bank presents superior attractions. There the
parties are always certain of enjoying the advantage of
their self-denial and providence, with an addition of in-
ON THE DUTIES OP DEACON. 73
terest, and the payments may be made at any season, as
best suits their convenience. It is pleasing to see the
progress which such institutions have made, especially of
late years ; but much may be done by the kind Christian
deacon to extend their advantages yet more. He may
throw out the suggestion and supply the necessary infor-
mation, and afford facilities for enrolling the poor man
and his family as contributors to the provident bank.
There can be little question that the higher proportion
of female servants abo ve other classes, which avail them-
selves of the advantages of such institutions, is OAving to
the advice of intelligent and well-disposed masters and
mistresses. Let the deacon occupy their place in regard
to the great mass, who have no such considerate guardi-
ans. Xay more, let the deacons, in reference to the
savmgs' bank, act upon the aggressive j^rinciple. Let
him not content himself with mere advice ; let it be part
of his office regularly, from wxek to week, or month to
month, to collect the savings of the working classes of
his charge, especially where belonging to the same Chris-
tian congregation, and pay them into the bank. Let
him, so to speak, become their agent and collector, and
no one can tell the amount of good which, at a small but
regular sacrifice of time and trouble, may be "wrought out.
This plan has been pursued at Manchester with the best
advantage. — Vide Appendix. But even this does not ex-
haust the devices of a w^ise and benevolent deacon. "Why
should not the deaconship of every congregation have a
LOAN FUND, from which, on suitable recommendation
and security, they might lend to the poorer classes ? In
cases of protracted sickness, or when there is any im-
portant object for which a little extra money is needed,
74 ON THE DUTIES OF DEACON.
such an institution "would be of the highest advantage,
often not only saving the poor man and his family from
beggary, but putting them in a way of making themselves
independent. The middle and higher classes have the
advantage of credit, founded upon character. If they
need money on any emergency, they go to a banker and
receive it. But the poor man, who often needs it more
than others, cannot do so. He has no resource but the
pawnbroker, who, in effect, becomes his banker, and a
most expensive and miserable banker he is. When the
poor man's savings at the bank are exhausted, too often
his course is, and necessity compels him, to part with one
article after another, till his house and family are literally
robbed — till his own Sabbath clothes, perhaps, are for-
feited, and ere he can replace them the Sabbath taste
and habits are also gone, and nothing remains but beggary
and woe, — without God, and without hope, in which,
alas ! his wife and children unhappily share. What is
the remedy for this too frequent state of things ? It is
for the deaconship to have a Loan Fund, on the prin-
ciple of the Mont de Piete in Ireland. According to
this system, I understand that a working man wishing
a loan must bring security for the amount, from two de-
cent people in his own class, with a recommender besides,
who also becomes a security that the borrower shall
repay the loan by regular instalments. The only danger
here seems to be, that the money will not be repaid, and
that henceforward none will be willing to become sureties.
Experience proves the very reverse to be the truth. So
far from the parties borrowing failing in their engage-
ment, the Loan Fund, at Powerscourt, the other year,
had £250 of surplus profit, which the managers ex-
ON THE DUTIES OF DEACON. 75
pended in clothing, &c., for the poor. "Whether there
should he such a thing as profit at all, in connection
with loan funds, may admit of question ; hut, at least,
the result proves that there is no danger the lenders
will not receive again the money which they have
lent. Besides the accommodation which such institu-
tions afford to the industrious classes — the preservation
from the ruinous sacrifices of the pa^^^lbroker which
they secure — the ability to purchase articles at the
greatest advantage, and to avail themselves of favour-
able openings — the independence and family comfort to
which they lead ; — in addition to all these, what is
scarcely less important, the poor man is taught the value
of character, and the different ranks of society are,
through means of this tie, interlaced one with another.
At present, he has little pecuniary advantage from cha-
racter, and this becomes an argument against caring
much about it. It would be otherwise under the pro-
posed loan system. Then he would feel that his station,
and convenience, and advancement, all depended upon
character, — that it was only where he was a reputable
man, associating with reputable parties, that he could
hope to share in those advantages by which he saw
friends and acquaintances around him get on in the
world. Where deacons were the administrators of such
funds, not only would the worth of character, and Chris-
tian character, come to be more understood, but the
attention of the higher and more opulent members of a
congregation would come to be fixed upon industrious
and deserving families, and sons and daughters from the
midst of them would be promoted to creditable places.
76 ON THE DUTIES OF DEACON.
The loan system would form a good introduction among
families.
I need say nothing of the spirit in which deacons
should discharge their duties to the poor — that is suffi-
ciently obvious from the very nature of the case, and
especially from the qualification of character which Scrip-
ture demands. Animated by the spirit of his office,
and acting out the character which the counsels of
the Word imply, he will not be haughty, or harsh, or
suspicious ; he will not be cold, and formal, and repul-
sive, discharging his work as if it were a burden ; he
will be frank and easy in his intercourse with the poor ;
take an interest in their avocations, their health, and
welfare ; kind, and tender, and sympathizing, especially
when in sickness ; but withal firm, and not easily per-
suaded to what his judgment does not approve. He
will also have a deep conviction of the insufficiency of all
his effiDrts to benefit the poor of his charge without the
blessing of God, and hence he will not fail to seek that
blessing in the exercise of diligent and persevering prayer
for the Holy Spirit.
With regard to the duties which more directly con-
cern the finance of the Church, the faithful deacon will
administer the sums drawn, whether by collections or
otherwise, with integrity and wisdom, in the spirit at
once of justice and benevolence. He will remember the
claims of the pastor, and encourage him, so far as cir-
cumstances will allow, by the liberality of his arrange-
ments. And he will see that all other funds, such as
school funds. Sabbath and week days', are properly at-
tended to, regularly collected, and made available for the
ON THE DUTIES OF DEACON. 77
ends for which they are raised, and that nothing be allowed
to fall behind. In short, he will labour to introduce into
the financial management of the house of God all the
skill, promptitude, and accuracy which mark a well
conducted worldly business. This is the leading duty of
the deacon in this connection, and, if well done, it will
redound to his honour, and add in no small degree to
the comfort and success with which the affairs of congre-
gations and churches are managed. There can be little
question that the absence of an intelligent body of dea-
cons has often led to confusion and disorder in carrying
forward the different moral and religious schemes of
parishes. Funds have not been raised at the proper
time ; there is consequent embarrassment and crippling,
if not hindrance of the whole plans of public usefulness.
Few things are more discouraging than an exhausted or
irregularly supplied exchequer. It will be the great care
of the enlightened deacon to provide against this, and
to keep the wheels well oiled.
78 THE OFFICE AS IT APPEARS IN THE STANDARDS
CHAPTER VIII.
THE OFFICE OF DEACON AS IT APPEARS IN THE
STANDARDS AND HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF
SCOTLAND.
Heathenism neglects and despises the poor when
aged and infirm — sometimes violently despatches them.
Popery creates poor, cherishes the abject spirit of men-
dicancy, and turns almsgiving into a passport to heaven.
Protestant Christianity alone treats the poor aright —
providing for them either from the resources of the
nation, or the donations of the Christian Church ; the
latter given from right motives, and administered by a
class of office-bearers appointed for the express purpose
of watching over their interests. It would have been
a great reproach to Christianity, and a stumblingblock
in the way of the world, had the Evangelical Church
not cared for the poor, and specially provided for them.
If we survey the state of the poor over Christendom, it
will be found, speaking generally, that the Popish coun-
tries are overspread with the worst forms of mendicancy,
though abounding with natural resources of wealth,
and that the poor are worst cared for ; while Protestant
countries, in one form or another, by civil or ecclesias-
tical arrangement, make an incomparably better provi-
sion for the infirm and the indigent, and that though
AND HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 79
naturally poorer in point of natural resources. It is
much to the honour of Scotland, that at the period
of the Reformation, one of the most rugged and un-
cultivated of countries — proverbially poor — she, in the
Protestant and Presbyterian system -which she set up,
deepl}^ and unAveariedly interested herself in the right
and scriptural management of the poor. Though the
country was overrun -v^dth the mendicancy of Popery,
and a change was at hand from the feudal to the mo-
dem system of societj^ which could not fail seriously to
affect the labouring classes ; yet she prepared as vigor-
ously to provide for the poor, as if the care of them had
devolved upon her in the most favourable circumstances.
Her grand aim was to learn what was the mind of God
on the subject, and to follow his counsel. Doing so,
she was at once secured against many errors, and had
the pleasing conviction that sooner or later she would
be successful.
About 1556, a number of private Christians, who
had been brought to the knowledge of the truth, under
the labours of the Reformers, met together for religious
conference, the reading of the Scriptures, and prayer.
This might be said to be the beginning of the Evangeli-
cal Church in Scotland. As at this time they had no
ministers, the sacraments were not dispensed. " Con-
vinced," says Dr M'Crie {Life of Knox^ 2d edit. vol. i.
p. 229), " of the necessity of order and discipline in
their societies, and desirous to have them organized, so
far as within their power, agreeably to the institution
of Christ, they proceeded to choose elders for the in-
spection of their manners, to whom they promised sub-
jection, and deacons for the collection and distribution
80 THE OFFICE AS IT APPEARS IN THE STANDARDS
of alms to the poor." Edinhurgli was the first place in
which this order was established, — Dundee the first
town in which a reformed Church was completely or-
ganized, provided with a regular minister, and favoured
with the dispensation of the sacraments. The historian
states that this took place in the end of 1556 or the
beginning of 1557, and gives the names of the first five
ruling elders in the Church of Edinburgh. The order
of deacons was not a new thing in the history of the
Christian Church ; we have already seen that it was re-
cognised and in operation in the Protestant Churches
of the Continent ; but more than this, it was introduced
into Episcopal England at the same pei'iod in which it
appeared in Scotland. Edward VI., who died in 1 5oS^
had given great encouragement to John A'Lasco, origi-
nally a Polish nobleman, who had become a Protestant,
to come over to this country, and to take the charge of
the foreign congregations then in London. His object
appears to have been to present these congregations as
a model in their constitution for the Church of Eng-
land, which, owing to various adverse influences, had not
been permitted to assume so reformed a shape as the
king and her best friends earnestly longed for. A few
congregations in the metropolrs, formed on the rule
of Scripture, and after the example of the Reformed
Churches abroad, it was naturally thought would have
no inconsiderable influence in gradually encouraging the
faithful men of England to adopt the same constitution.
Now, the constitution of the foreign Churches in Lon_
don, composed of Germans, French, and Italians, em-
braced pastors, ruling elders, and deacons. This appears
from the account of it which A'Lasco himself published.
AND HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 81
Dr M'Crie says, speaking of these congregations, " The
affairs of each congregation were managed by a minis-
ter, ruling elders, and deacons, and each of these were
viewed as di%duely ordained {Appendix, toI. i. p. 392),
and yet Cranmer and the king warmly patronized
A'Lasco ; and the latter, in the charter which he
granted to the congregation of foreigners, speaks of it
as truly Christian and apostolical in doctrines and rites,"
and as " administered according to the Word of God
and apostolic otservances." Well, we may safely say,
would it have been for England had the same system
been universally approved and acted on, — much of the
wide-spread religious ignorance which prevails would
have been spared, and the management of the poor would
not for ages have been allowed to remain in such dis-
order, as to prove the parent of extensive social evils.
In 1560, the Church of Scotland was fully organized
as a Christian Church, and, as might have been ex-
pected, soon found it necessary to draw up some formal
public system for the guidance of the many congregations
which were now^ rising up all over the land. Hitherto
the Common Order used in tbe English Church at
Geneva had been followed, but this proving inadequate
with the extension of the Church, a few of the leading
ministers, at the invitation of the Privy Council, drew
out a Book of Policy or Disciphne. So matured were
their views, and so directly drawn from Scripture in
principle, that the work was completed in a few weeks,
and was approved by the Church and the great body of
the Privy Council. It begins in these interesting terms :
— " To the Gneat Council of Scotland, now admitted to
the regiment (government), by the providence of God,
82 THE OFFICE AS IT APPEARS IN THE STANDARDS
and by the common consent of the Estates thereof, your
honours' humble servitors and ministers of Jesus Christ
within the same, wish grace, mercy, and peace from
God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, with the
perpetual increase of the Holy Spirit." In the tOth
chapter, speaking of the office and election of elders and
deacons, this wonderful document, still a standard of
the Church of Scotland, has these sentences regarding
the deaconship : —
" The office of deacon is to receive the rents and
gather the alms of the kirk, to keep and distribute the
same, as by the minister and kirk shall be appointed.
They may also assist in judgment Avith the minister and
elders, and may be admitted to read in assembly, if they
be required, and be able thereto." This last provision
is in harmony with those of foreign Churches, that, in
the absence of other office-bearers, and in cases of ne-
cessity, the deacon may publicly read the Word of God,
so that the people may not be deprived of the privilege
of divine worship.
The qualifications of Christian character, on the part
of the deacon, are next stated, and the course which is
to be pursued in the event of censure being needed.
The general qualifications for the office and mode of
election, applicable to elders as well as deacons, are
stated in these words : — " Men of best knowledge in
God's Word and cleanest life — men faithful and of most
honest conversation, that can be found in the kirk, must
be nominated to be in election, and their names must
be publicly read to the whole kirk, by the minister giving
them advertisement, that from amongst 4hem must be
chosen elders and deacons. If any of these nominated
AND HISTORY OF THE CIIURCn OF SCOTLAND. 83
be noted with public infamy, he ought to be repelled ;
for it is not seemly that the servant of corruption should
have authority to judge in the Kirk of God. If any
man know others of better qualities within the kirk than
those that be nominated, let them be put in election
with them, that the kirk may have the choice." It was
contemplated that the office, or rather its active duties,
should last only for a year ; at the same time, the dea-
con might be re-elected. No pecuniary provision was
made for him, as the labour was meant to continue but
for a year, and was not so absorbing as to unfit for
attending upon his usual calling.
The high importance which the founders of the Church
of Scotland attached to the office of the deacon, may be
gathered from the circumstance, that if the minister was
of light conversation, it was deemed right that the elders
and deacons should admonish him. This seems to have
been in a friendly way ; for in serious cases they were to
complain to the adjacent ministers — in other words, the
Presbytery, which had not, at the date of the First Book
of Discipline, been formally organized.
The views entertained by the Church regarding the
office of deacon, did not consist of mere speculations;
she forthwith proceeded to put them into active opera-
tion. In St Giles', Edinburgh, the church of John Knox,
which contained 3000 hearers, there were 12 elders, and
not less than 16 deacons Dunlops Confessions^ vol. ii.
p. 638. It cannot be questioned that the congregations
throughout the country were similarly appointed.
The next important date, in tracing the history of the
office of deacon in the Church, is 1578 — the date when
the Second Book of Discipline was agreed on by the
84 THE OFFICE AS IT APPEARS IN THE STANDARDS
General Assembly. This Avas 18 years subsequent to
the First, but there v/as no change of sentiment in regard
to the office. There had been anxious discussion on
questions of Church government, but the deacon retained
his place and all his former importance in the Church.
In the period which elapsed between the two Books of
Discipline, there were various effi)rts made by the Church
to obtain from the tithes and " chaplainries " a better ^
and more stable provision for the poor, than she could
collect from private sources in the troublous times through
which she passed ; but generally speaking, the covetous-
ness of the parties into whose hands the Church lands
had fallen, was too strong for her good intentions. She
thus, however, showed her spirit of tenderness for the
poor, and acquitted herself of an important duty.
The eighth chapter of the Second Book of Discipline
treats " of deacons and their office, the last ordinary
function in the Kirk," and runs in these terms : —
" 1. The word Aiaxovos sometimes is largely taken,
comprehending all those who bear office in the ministry
and perpetual function in the Kirk.
" 2. But now as we speak it is taken only for those
to whom the collection and distribution of the alms of the
faithful and ecclesiastical goods do appertain.
'' 3. The office of the deacon is taken as an ordinary
and perpetual ecclesiastical function in the Kirk of Christ.
" 4. Of what properties and duties he ought to be
who is called to this function, we remit to the manifest
Scriptures.
" 5. The deacon ought to be called and elected as the
rest of the spiritual officers, of tke which election was
spoken before.
AND HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 85
" 6. Their office and power is to receive and dis-
tribute the whole ecclesiastical goods to them to whom
they are appointed.
" 7. This they ought to do according to the judgment
and appointment of the presbyteries or the elderships
(of the which the deacons are not), that the patrimony
of the Kirk and poor be not converted to private men's
use, nor wrongfully distributed."
Such are the views of the Second Book of Discipline,
a leading standard of the Church at the present day; and
surely they are sufficiently clear and explicit. We do not
read much of the office or its operations for many years.
So far as we can discover, no acts of Assembly bearing
upon it Avere passed. The office is in its own nature
quiet and unobtrusive. Of this only we are assured, that
the Church continued, with undiminished zeal, to labour
for the suitable sustentation of the poor.
In the interesting little treatise of the celebrated Alex-
ander Henderson, on " The Government and Order of
the Chm-ch of Scotland," published in 1641, we have a
section " Of the Deacons and their Office." The most
important parts are contained in these sentences: —
" Their main duty is to collect, receive, and distribute,
not only the alms for the poor, but the whole ecclesiasti-
cal goods which are not assigned and appointed for the
maintenance of particular persons. These duties they
must perform at the discretion and by the appointment
of the pastor and elders ; for which cause, and not for
government, they are to be present at the ordinary meet-
ings of the eldership. The means for the maintenance
of the poor are collected by the deacons, the first day of
the week, or the Lord's day, and other days of the public
F
8G THE OFFICE AS IT APPEARS IN THE STANDARDS
assembling of the people to the worship of God, at the
eutry of the church ; and if this prove not a competency,
then do the people either bring in their charity on such
days as are appointed by the eldership, or are willing to
be taxed according as they shall be judged to be able.
In some cities and parishes where this order has been
carefidly observed^ none have been suffered to beg, and
none have lacked."
A little later, about the middle of the 17th century,
"A Treatise of the Ruling Elders and Deacons" was
published by a minister of the Church of Scotland. By
some the tract is attributed to the celebrated George
Gillespie, one of the ministers of Edinburgh, and a
commissioner to the Westminster Assembly; but the
prevailing, and apparently well founded persuasion is,
that it proceeded from the pen of James Guthrie, minis-
ter of Stirling — one of the noble martyrs of the Church
of Scotland. It is often bound up with the writings
of his kinsman, William Guthrie of FeuAvick ; and
Stewart of Pardovan, in his " Collections," published
at the end of the century, expressly ascribes it to him,
and extracts a whole chapter on Deacons from the
treatise almost verbatim. Whoever was the author, not
only is it admirable in itself, but it bears to have been
" revised and published by order of the General Meeting
of the Ministers and Elders of the Church, 1699." Its
authority, then, is high and unquestionable;* and what
are its views of the office of deacon ? They are precisely
those of the standards of the Church. From what may
be called two cautions introduced into the second chap-
* This HtUe treatise I have lately republished in " The Eldership of the
Church of Scotland," &c., 1841.
AND HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OP SCOTLAND. 87
ter on tlie deacon, one may gather that at the period in
which Guthrie wrote the office was in some congi'ega-
tions — it is not said in many, far less all, — but in some
blended with that of the ruling elder, and that some
were tempted to think lightly of the office of deacon. In
its scriptural simplicity he guards against both errors,
in these excellent terms : —
" From the divine institution of deacons we gather —
\st. That the deacon is a distinct officer from the elder.'^
It is a defect and fault in some congregations that they
put no difference betwixt these two, but so confound
and mingle them together, as if they were both one,
either appointing none for the office of deacon, but leav-
ing that charge also upon the elders, or else giving the
deacons the same power and employment with the elders.
It is true whatsoever the deacon may do by virtue of his
office, that same may be done by an elder, as whatsoever
is done by an elder may be done by a minister ; because
the higher and more eminent officers in the Church in-
clude the powers of the lower. It is also true that the
deacons may assist in judgment with the ministers and
elders, t and be helping to them in those things that con-
cern the oversight of the congregations by information
and advice ; yet it is necessary that congi-egations should
so far regard the ordinances and reverence the wisdom
of God in appointing these officers, as to have both elders
and deacons, and to preserve them distinct in their
actings and operations, not giving to the deacons or
suffering them to assume the elder's office. 2f/, That
deacons are not to count light of this employment, or
any others to esteem lightly of them, because they are
* First Book of Discipline, chap. ii. p, 74. t Ibid., chap. ii. p. 57.
88 THE OFFICE AS IT APPEARS IN THE STANDARDS
called thereunto and do exercise the same ; but that they
themselves and all others ought to look upon it as one of
those holy and honourable employments Avhich the wis-
dom of God hath thought fit to appoint in his house for
supplying the necessities of the saints. The Lord Jesus
himself did not disdain to wash his disciples' feet ; angels
are all of them ministering spirits, sent forth to minister
for their sakes who are appointed to be heirs of salvation.
Why, then, should any think it below them to serve the
Church of Christ, and to minister to the saints in this
employment ? "
The reader may wish to see the remainder of Guthrie's
views, and those of his brethren, on the office. They
are embraced under the following heads : —
" On the Calling of Deacons. — None is to step into
this office but he that is lawfully called thereto. * Unto
their calling it is needful — 1*^, That they have abilities
and gifts fit for the charge, together with an honest pur-
pose of heart to serve the Lord faithfully in the discharge
of the same, by seeking his honour and the good of the
Church. 2f?, That they be chosen by the congregation
in which they are to serve, which choice is to be made
after the same manner as that of a ruling elder. 3</,
that trial be taken by the minister and elders concerning
their conversation, that it be blameless and holy ; and
concerning their gifts, that they have that tenderness,
discretion, dexterity, and prudence that is fit for that
employment, and that they be admitted to their charge
with prayer, and supplication, and opening of the Word,
* Second Book of Discipline, chap. viii.
AND HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 89
concerning their duty, publicly in the congregation,
where they are solemnly to engage themselves to be
faithful to the charge committed to them of God. *
" Of their Duty — First^ of their Conversation. —
Their duty is either that which concerns their conversa-
tion, or their office and calling. For their conversation,
the apostle shows what it must be.t 1*^, They must
not be double-tongued, nor liars, nor dissemblers, nor
deceivers. 2c?, They must not be given to much wine,
nor tipplers, nor drunkards, nor lovers, nor followers of
strong drink. 3c?, They must not be greedy of filthy
lucre, nor such as are covetous, and whose hearts run
after the things of the world. 4t^, They must be grave
men, of a posed and staid carriage, and not of a light
and vain behaviour. 5th^ They must be such as hold
fast the mystery of faith in a pure conscience, that is,
who do not only know the doctrine of the Gospel, but do
hold fast the faith thereof without wavering, and study
to have a good conscience in walking answerably thereto.
Qth^ They must be the husband of one wife, such as ab-
stain from all unlawful lusts, satisfying themselves with
the remedy allowed of God. 7^^, They must be such
as rule their own houses and their children well ; such
as command and instruct their children and household
to keep the way of the Lord, going before them in the
practice of piety and godliness, and all holy and reli-
gious duties.
" Of the Duties of their Calling. — The duties that
deacons are bound to perform in their calling may be
reduced to these heads:}: 1^^, That they be careful to
take exact notice of such as are poor in the congrega-
*Acts vi. 3, 5. 6 ; 1 Tim. iii. 10. 1 1 Tim. ill. 8-12,
X Second Book of Discipline, chap. viii.
90 TUE OFFICE AS IT APPEARS IN THE STANDARDS
tion, and have not wherewith to maintain themselves.
2f/, That they be careful, from time to time, to collect and
receive from the several members of the congregation,
and strangers that come among them, what the Lord shall
incline their hearts to give for a supply of the necessities
of the poor ; and, in a seasonable and Christian way, to
stir up and exhort to charity and liberality, that the
more may be given. 3c?, That what is received and
collected by them be faithfully delivered, that it may be
put into the treasury of the congregation. 4iA, That
they do tiraeously make known the several conditions
and necessities of the several poor within the congrega-
tion to the church session, that provision may be ap-
pointed accordingly for each of them, that so the poor
may not be put to begging, to the grief of their spirits
and the reproach of the Gospel. 5th, That they be care-
ful, honestly and in simplicity, without respect of persons,
to distribute and deliver to the poor what is appointed
for supply of their necessities ; and if they be orphans
and young ones, or such who have no knowledge nor
understanding, nor ability to dispose and order the things
that concern their food and raiment, that the deacons
honestly employ and bestow what is given for their use,
that they may be supplied in these things. 6th, That
they be careful that what belongs to the poor be not
dilapidated nor applied to any other use ; and if there be
any stock in the Church treasure, it be improved to the
best advantage for the benefit and use of the poor. Yet
so that the poor be rather always supplied than money
treasured up for a vain show. 7fh, That they be careful
to take notice of those that are sick, that they may
acquaint the ministers and elders therewith for visiting
AND HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 91
them, and if they he poor, that their necessities may he
supplied.
" That deacons maiy the more conveniently discharge
their duty, it is fit that some part of the congregation be
assigned to every one of them, for the better inspection of
the poor thereof, and that the diets of collecting for the
poor be divided amongst them.
" The number of deacons in every congregation is to
be according to the proportion of the congregation and
of the poor therein; and though there be no necessity of
an equal number of elders and deacons, yet it is fit that
each elder have some deacon to be assisting to him in the
bounds of which he hath more peculiar inspection, that
so both the one and the other may discharge their duty
with the greater facility to themselves, and with the
greater benefit and advantage to the congregation."
In the 1 7th century, the office of deacon seems to
have been in very general, if not universal operation.
Those who held it appear to have been numerous. In
Glasgow, in 1657, there were five quarters, to each of
which there were 1 8 deacons and as many elders attached
— making 90 deacons and as many elders. The fact of
the deacons bearing so high a proportion to the elders, is
a proof of the importance of the office. In 1659, there
were 16 deacons and 23 elders in the parish of Dunferm-
line. In 1649, the Presbytery of Dunfermline ordered
a new and enlarged election of elders and deacons to be
made in all the parishes of the Presbytery, 14 in number,
and which, with one or two exceptions, are all rural
parishes. The proportions in which they recommend
the elections to be made are: — 12 deacons and 18 elders
in the largest population; 8 deacons and 10 elders in
92 THE OFFICE AS IT APPEARS IN THE STANDARDS
the less numerous, and 4 deacons and 6 elders in the
smallest. At this period, in Torryburn, a small coun-
try parish, but pretty populous, there seems to have
been 1 1 deacons ; and if in this parish they were so
numerous, in other parishes they must have formed a
large body. Anderson, in his " Defence of Presby-
terian Church Government," 60 years later (1714), in
answering an objection that deacons were rare in the
parishes of Scotland, states that " they were in every
congregation where they could be had — to my certain
knowledge in the lesser as well as larger towns — yea^
in many country congregations. Every minister is
posed upon it by the Presbytery twice a-year, whether
his session be constituted with deacons as well as elders.
Possibly some congregations may have little or no stock
(money to distribute), and perhaps as few people that
want it." — P. 212. He then goes on to show that the
office is not essential to the existence of a Christian
Church — that the Church existed before the institution
of deacons. This is true. Still the office is a permanent
as well as most important one in the Christian Church,
and should be maintained in every congregation, even
the smallest. In all there will be found some poor call-
ing for the aid of the deacon ; and though there were
none such, yet, as we have seen, there are other duties
connected with what may be called the finance of the
Church — Christian missions, &c., to which the deacon
may most appropriately attend.
In 1719, an act of Assembly was passed bearing dis-
tinctly on the office of deacon. It runs in these terms :
— " The General Assembly recommends to all the minis-
ters of this Church, to take care that deacons, as well
AND HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 93
as elders, be ordained in such congregations where dea-
cons are wanting : But declares, That deacons, as such,
shall have no decisive voice in calling of ministers, or in
the exercise of Church discipline."
From the above period down, comparatively speaking,
to modern days, the office of deacon, as a distinct office
in the Church of Scotland, has, to a great extent, been in
abeyance,* and that its leading duties in the care of the
poor have been neglected ; far from it. They have been
excellently discharged — on.ly blended with those of the
elder. Forty thousand pounds, it appears from official
documents, are yearly raised by the free-will contributions
of the Church, and, with a larger sum, are dispensed by
7000 unpaid office-bearers of the Church of Scotland,
elders and deacons. Perhaps no Christian Church can
point to so honourable a donation. Still, among the
number of office-bearers, the deacons form but a small
part. They have, as a body, been allowed to fall into the
shade. No better proof of this can be afforded than in
the fact, that no tract or treatise, however small, so far
as I know, has been published on the subject. I had,
in a previous publication, occasion to regret that so little
has been written or published on the office of ruling
elder. I have still more reason to regret the neglect with
which the office of deacon has been too often treated.
With the exception of an admirable chapter of Dr
* There have still been deacons in particular congregations, such as in the
Barony, Glasgow, also St John's, St Enoch's, St David's, &c., of the same
city. There have also been similar office-bearers, I understand, in some
country parishes, as in Mid-Calder and Whitburn, more recently in Killin and
Comrie. I rejoice to learn that in some quarters traces of revival are alreadv
apparent— that deacons have lately been elected in St John's, Edinburgh, and
that the subject is under the consideration of the Session of the High Church
parish of the same city. It is also interesting to learn, that in the Presbyterian
Church of Ireland, from which the otfice had in a great measure disappeared,
not a few congregations are now calling men to the discharge of its duties.
94 THE OFFICE AS IT APPEARS IN THE STANDARDS, ETC.
Chalmers', in his " Christian and Economic Polity of a
Nation," in which lie points out, as he did many years
ago, with a rare sagacity which always cames him far
ahead of the age, the importance of devolving the tem-
poral ministrations of a Church on a separate order of
office-bearers — with this exception, in which he success-
fully argues for the separation of the offices of elder and
deacon, I am not aware that any thing has been written
on the deaconship in modern times, at least in this coun-
try.* The Acts of the General Assembly are entirely
silent, and so are the writings of the friends of the
Church. Surely this, though by no means conclusive
as to the non-operation of the office, is an unfavourable
sign of the interest and zeal of the Church in its behalf.
Of late years, with the growing attention of the public
mind to the constitution of the Christian Church, and
the pressure of the question of Scottish pauperism, there
has been increasing inquiry into the deaconship, and a
growing desire to revive and extend the operations of
the office. I trust that this spirit will enlarge yet more
and more, satisfied as I am that, under God, the right
management of the poor depends in a great degree upon
the universal revival of the office, and the universal com-
pliance with the mind of the great Head of the Church.
There can be little question that it might be easily and
at once revived in every parish of Scotland. There are
the materials, let the Church authoritatively call them
into operation. The advantages are great, obvious, im-
mediate, permanent. The notice of a few of these will
naturally belong to the next chapter.
* Dr Dwight of America has a good discourse on it in his *' Theology ;'* and
Dr Gill has a few pages in his "Body of Divinity," vol. iii.
THE GENERAL ADVANTAGES OF A REVIVAL, ETC. 95
CHAPTER IX.
THE GENERAL ADVANTAGES OF A REVIVAL OF THE
OFFICE OF DEACON, AND THE SPECIAL CALL TO
IT AT THE PRESENT DAY.
1. A GENERAL revival of the office of deacon would be
highly useful to the eldership. I need say nothing of
the importance of this spiritual office in the Church of
Christ, or of the immense benefits which the discharge
of its duties has rendered to the Church and to society.
At the same time, as at present administered, it admits
of decided enlargement and improvement. The revival
of the office of deacon would conduce to both, and that
in a variety of wjays. It cannot be doubted that one
reason, especially in large towns, why many excellent
men, when asked to join the eldership, decline to do so,
is the troublesome and oppressive charge of the poor, as
they apprehend it, in which they would thereby involve
themselves. They have no time for this, especially if they
belong to the humbler classes of society, and have little
taste or tact for it if in the higher ; hence the services of
many are lost to the eldership. I am informed, that in
a town where there were but 50 elders to the charge of
above 700 poor, there was no obtaining elders till re-
lieved of the charge of the general, as distinguished
from the poor in communion with the Church. The
06 THE GENERAL ADVANTAGES OF A REVIVAL
number ^vas reduced to 150. Since this arrangement
has been made — not a correct one, as we have shown,
in point of principle, so far as the poor are concerned,
however proper in regard to the elder — there has been
no difficulty in obtaining the aid of men excellently
qualified for the discharge of spiritual duties. Had the
elder no charge of the poor whatever, it may be believed
that, for the same reason, the facilities for obtaining men
of suitable qualifications, in all ranks, would be greatly
multiplied.
But the revival of the office of deacon would not only
add to the number of the eldership — itself an immense
advantage — but it would improve the character and
influence of those who hold the office of elder. Their
appropriate spiritual calling is apt to suffer, from being
mixed up with the management of temporalities. These
are ready to absorb, and the poor are apt to carry preju-
dices— it may be unreasonable ones, created by the one
administration against the other, and higher. This is
finely expounded by Dr Chalmers, in a part of his works
to which reference has been already made. The more
that a man holding a spiritual office can be separated
from mere secular matters, the better. The apostles
evidently acted upon this principle in instituting the
office of deacon. At the same time, it is not so absolute
as to preclude a union of offices where there are not men
to fill both departments. It is plain that the apostles
must themselves have managed the affairs of the poor
previously to the appointment of deacons ; and if so, it
cannot, in cases of necessity, be unlawful for ruling elders
to discharge the same duty. "Where possible, however,
this should be avoided, and in the vast majority of cases,
OF THE OFFICE OF DEACON. 97
it may be easily and safely done. It may be noticed,
that if the present discussion on the management of the
poor in Scotland terminate in any thing like a nearer
approximation to the English poor law system, it will be
doubly necessary for the integrity of the office of elder to
have a large body of deacons. Apart from this, there will
be great danger of the office being seriously secularized,
and that just at the very time it is rising in its spiritual
character. A faithful deacon ship would, by keeping up
the habits of the people, often render a compulsory
assessment unnecessary; while, where it existed, their
services would be peculiarly needed to shield the elder's
office from injury.
In addition to the advantage of making the elder more
free for the exercise of his spiritual calling, and giving
him to feel that he really is invested with an important
spiritual office, which demands special attention, there is
another advantage in this connection, and that is, that the
deaconship would prove an excellent nursery for the elder-
ship. Men having been tried in the one office, would,
where otherwise qualified, enter with great eftect upon the
other. The apostle Paul evidently contemplated the dea-
con being a younger man than the elder, and, after being
proved in the deaconship, rising to a higher office in the
Church ; nor where the election to the office of elder is
popular, is there any thing difficult or invidious in the
advancement. If the appointment rested with the minis-
ter and elders there might be difficulty. They might be
satisfied in their own minds, that one who made an
excellent deacon wanted the qualities to render him an
equally excellent elder, and could not, therefore, propose
him to the congregation ; while they would feel it to be
95 THE GENERAL ADVANTAGES OF A REVIVAL
painfully invidious to pass over one who had served the
deaconship well for many years, and to put younger
men over his head. This invidiousness is prevented
where the congregation elect to the eldership. We may
be sure that they will not unnecessarily pass over a
deacon who has been known or useful among them;
and, supposing that a deacon is not so called, he will be
much more easily reconciled to retain his deaconship,
and discharge its duties, in which he excels, when it is
the voice, not of an individual, but of the congregation,
which decides. The deaconship, as affording an oppor-
tunity of knowing men's character and qualifications,
and proving their graces in various ways, is exceedingly
valuable as a preparation for the eldership. It will
secure a far larger number of efficient elders, particularly
in considerable towns, where imperfect acquaintance of
the members of the congregation one with another is
one of the grand hindrances to a well-appointed staff of
elders. A friend, who had 1 6 deacons in his congregation,
four of whom were lately called to the office of elder by
the votes of the Christian people, remarks on the advan-
tage to which I at present refer in these terms : — " The
early bringing in of men too young for the eldership to
the habit of active usefulness, and if they approve them-
selves in the inferior office, preparing and pointing them
out to the session and congregation as fit persons for the
higher, — this I find a i-eal advantage, and do not doubt
that it might be carried to a great extent and to the best
results." So much for the influence of a revived deacon-
ship on the eldership.
2. The change would be beneficial to the minister. It
would at once relieve, and strengthen, and encourage
OF THE OFFICE OP DEACON. 99
him. Even as matters stand, with all the aid which he
derives from elders, there are many matters devolved
upon him of a secular nature, which he would rather
wish to commit to the hands of deacons, as appropriate
to them ; and, besides this, it is comforting and ani-
mating for a pastor to be surrounded by a large body
of intelligent men, interested in the poor and the finan-
cial aftairs of the Church. He feels, that amid all his
own difficulties and discouragements, he is not standing
alone — that others are alive to his circumstances, and
sympathize with him, and are forward to aid him —
and that he can have their advice and co-operation in
many matters, which are otherwise fitted to distract and
to burden. This is a source of comfort and strength,
even though he may not, as pastor, have frequent occa-
sion to call for their assistance.
3. Next, a revival of the office of deacon would interest
a large body of men in the poor, and reflexly do good to
the deacon himself. It is a common and melancholy
saying, that one half of society do not know what the
other half are doing, or how they subsist. This is not like
the sympathy and benevolence of brothers — the children
of the same Father. Nor is it good for the community.
It creates a most injurious separation of ranks, which
soon comes to be filled up with jealousies, alienations,
and enmities, ready to break out on the first favourable
opportunity. The office of deacon tends to amalgamate
ranks, to soften diffigrences, to prevent or correct perni-
cious misapprehensions. Besides this, to labour among
the poor is to do good to one's self. It teaches depend-
ence upon God's sovereignty, which maketh us to difi*er
— calls forth gratitude to the kindness of Providence —
1 00 THE GENERAL ADVANTAGES OF A REVIVAL
awakens sympathy and regard for our suffering fellow-
men — and is fitted to make one humble and denied to
the world. It affords scope, too, for active Christian
benevolence — a benevolence which it is not desirable
should remain without an object, ever addressed from
the pulpit, but never called into living operation in the
world. AVhen it is considered that deacons may gene-
rally be young men, the advantage of early bringing
them into contact with the indigent, and preventing the
growth of selfishness and worldliness, and exaggerated
views of life, in an age peculiarly addicted to such evils,
is the more important.
4. A fourth advantage of the revival of the office of
deacon, would be the increased attention which the poor
would receive, not only in the supply of their actual wants,
but in other ways. Much of this cannot be expected at
the hands of paid agents, generally appointed because they
are stern to the poor, and will keep down pauperism, and
appointed, too, independent of religious character. Such
persons would naturally treat the poor either with great
coldness and harshness, or would minister to their wants
with a prodigality which would be very injurious. There
is no sort of moral or religious security that they would
act a different part. On the other hand, though private
Christians may, and ought to do much more for the
welfare of the poor, by personal exertions, than they
usually attempt, yet these do not supersede the attentions
of the deacon. Having no official or responsible public
character, private individuals may care for the poor or not,
by fits and starts, just as they please, and as suits their
convenience. This is not satisfactory to the poor, nor is
it fitted to gain the object in view. The grand thing is
OF THE OFFICE OF DEACON. 101
to join the advantages of both — the advantage of official
responsibility and persevering application, with the in-
telligent sympathizing kindness of the private Christian;
and in the character and office of the Christian deacon
these unite. It is evidently a matter of high moment
and serious obligation, to do more for the poor, particu-
larly in the large to\^^lS, and remote Highland and Island
parishes, than is usually done, to enlarge, if necessary, the
existing pecuniary provision ; but above all, to take steps
for raising their character, and with it their condition.
Humanly speaking, it would be impossible to create, at
once, a large body of men over the whole country, possess-
ed of the character and position of the Christian deacon,
without doing an immense service, directly or indirectly,
to the families of the poor. The raising up of several
thousand men, all interested in their indigent fellow-men
and fellow-parishioners, could not fail to be immediately
felt. It would prevent intemperance, and promote edu-
cation, and economical habits, and domestic comfort ;
and, in short, render services of good, which at present
we can scarcely conceive.
It is right to add, that a peculiar class of poor, who
have special claims upon the attention of the Christian
deacon, would naturally and greatly share in the advan-
tages of a revival of the office — I mean the poor saints.
They should be cared for, not merely as ordinary poor,
receiving a few shillings now and then : they should, so
to speak, be watched over. The congregation, through
the deacon, should see to it, that none of their members
are in want of food or clothing, and so prevented from
attending on the services of the sanctuary. Some hesitate
about a revival of the office of deacon, in the apprehen-
102 THE GENERAL ADVANTAGES OP A REVIVAL
sion that, with the eldership in active operation, there
would be no work for the deacon. But let this impor-
tant branch of Church duty be properly attended to, and
there will be no want of pleasant and useful labour, even
though the more general duties of the office were fewer
than they are.
5. As a consequence of the whole, the Church would
be strengthened in the affections of the people, and so
jStted for growing usefulness. She would be surrounded by
many thousand additional office-bearers, while the offices
of minister and elder would, at the same time, be raised
in efficiency, — in short, the Church should do more
work and the work would be better done ; and, in these
days, such a course is the grand condition of public
favour and stability. Besides, the Church would receive
the blessing of the poor man, which is of no small price ;
and yet better, she would be crowned with the approba-
tion of her 'exalted Head. Not only seeking to do good,
but to do good in the way of His appointment, His special
smile would rest upon her labours.
These are strong recommendations for reviving the
office of deacon at any time, but they are particularly
important at the present day. After making every al-
lowance for the danger to which even sagacious men are
exposed, of exaggerating the social evils which may
happen to prevail at a particular season, there seems
every reason to conclude, that the combination of evils
which at present presses upon society is not transitory.
The increasing application of machinery to manufac-
tures, and the improved methods of agriculture, are
evidently forcing multitudes, who have not the means of
emigration, into the ranks of poverty. However society
OF THE OFFICE OF DEACON. 103
may ultimately right itself, this is the present result, and
there seems no probability that it will quickly disappear.
In these circumstances, it is plain that some great effort
must be made to meet the wants of society. The country
seems to be driving to one of those grand crisises which
form epochs in history, and which can be encountered
only by some simultaneous exertion of corresponding ex-
tent and power. To prevent, however, the reader being
misled by exaggerated views, I have corrected, in the
Appendix, some of the greatly over-coloured statements,
in regard to the social condition of Glasgow and Scot-
land, which from time to time have been made. Still
the evils are alarming, and all intelligent, and espe-
cially Christian men, must look them stedfastly in the
face. Whether a revival of the full duties of the Chris-
tian Church in regard to the poor, and that in the way
of Christ's appointment, by a large staff of deacons,
however equal to meet the ordinary calls of indigence,
would be adequate in such an emergency as the present,
the fruit of the accumulating evils of years — may be
doubtful. Still it is plainly a movement in the right direc-
tion ; and it is unquestionable that, in this way at least,
very much good would be accomplished. In a crisis so
serious there is always danger that the hope of immediate
relief may betray men into plans, not only defective, but
ultimately injurious. There is peculiar hazard of this
where personal and family suffering are involved. Be-
nevolent men are willing even to sacrifice their specu-
lative principles, or to hold them in abeyance, for the
sake of supplying the wants of their destitute fellow-
men. All this enhances the value of charity, in the
scriptural way proposed, so much the more. Seeking
104 THE GENERAL ADVANTAGES OP A REVIVAL
out the old paths of the Word of God, and standing in
them, we can never do mischief. We may not be able
to accomplish at once all the good which is desirable or
necessary, but we are in the right way, and must be
ultimately successful.
Many, then, and peculiar are the advantages of reviv-
ing the office of deacon. Our present social disorders
may have been intended, in the providence of God, in
part, to call the attention of the Christian Church to
this part of its duty. It is true that most Christian
Churches do something for their poor, but they do not,
in this respect, discharge their whole duty to all the
poor, in the way or to the extent in which Christ re-
quires it. Let the Christian Church listen to the voice
of Providence, and be faithful to her trust and to the
rule of Scripture. A high honour and distinguished re-
ward await her if true to herself and to the poor. Dis-
credit and reproach will attend her footsteps if, in such
a crisis, the irreligious and the infidel can say, with
truth, that the Christian Church did no more than the
w^orld, and that, in extraordinary circumstances, she felt
and acted as if there were nothing peculiar.
I cannot suppose that any parties will be so unreason-
able or infatuated as wilfully to throw obstacles in the
way of the revival of the office of deacon. There may
at first be a little jealousy in some quarters. In rural
parishes some heritors may fear that, sympathizing too
strongly with the poor, or bringing out their wants more
fully than before, deacons may add to the parochial
burdens in seeking to relieve them; and some elders
may fear that their office will be superseded when that of
the deacon comes into vigorous play ; but the jealousies
OF THE OFFICE OF DEACON. 105
are equally unfounded. The deacon will ultimately, and
that at no great distance of time, prevent pauperism ;
and instead of superseding, will improve the office of
elder, and make it more efficient for its appropriate
duties. These things are in accordance with experience.
I happen to know a case where, on the revival of the
office of deacon, a few years ago, there was a little un-
pleasant feeling at first among the parties referred to,
from not correctly imderstanding the nature and opera-
tion of the deaconship ; but soon a leading heritor made
the deacon his private almoner, so satisfied was he with
the change, and speedily the services of the deacon were
appreciated by the elders, and w^ere most valued by the
most diligent and prayerful of the number. If any douht
exists as to the precise extent of the power of the deacon
in the legal management of the poor, it might be desir-
able that it should be ascertained and established. It is
not likely that in such a case any parties, however un-
reasonable, would long hold out. The congregation have
an effectual check upon such jealousies as would seri-
ously interfere vnth. the proper parochial organization
of the Christian Church, and it is right that it should
be so.
APPENDIX.
No. I.
TESTIMONy OF AN ENGLISH PRELATE TO PRESBYTERIAN
VIEWS OF THE OFFICE OF DEACON.
Dr Croft, Bishop of Hereford, published in 1675, under
the title of " A Humble Moderator," a treatise on the " True
State of the Primitive Church," in which, among many other
concessions, the following just sentiments occur " Concerning
deacons :" —
" Whether this of deaconship be properly called an order
or an office I will not dispute — but certainly no spiritual
order; for their office was to serve tables, as the Scrip-
ture phrases it, which, in plain English, is nothing else but
overseers of the poor, to distribute justly and discreetly the
alms of the faithful, which the apostles would not trouble
themselves withal, lest it should hinder them in the minis-
tration of the word and prayer. But as most matters of
this world, in process of time, deflect much from the original
constitution, so it fell out in this business ; for the bishops,
who pretend to be successors to the apostles, by little and
little, took to themselves the dispensation of alms, first by
way of inspection over the deacons, but at length the total
management ; and the deacons, who were mere lay-officers,
by degrees crept into the Church ministration, and became a
reputed spiritual order, and a necessary degree and step to
the priesthood, of which I can find nothing in Scripture and
the original institution, nor a word relating to any thing but
the ordering of alms for the poor. And the first I find
of these officiating in spiritual matters, is in Justin Martyr,
who lived in the second century. He relates, that when the
bishop had consecrated the bread and wine for the Lord's
Supper, the deacons took it from him, and delivered it to
108 APPENDIX.
the lay-communicauts there present, and carried it also to the
faithful that were absent — hindered, I guess, from coming
by sickness or some other good excusing cause. . . But it
is evident this was not yet come to be the general practice in
all Churches, but only in Greece, where Justin Martyr lived ;
for Tertullian, who lived in Africa some years after Justin,
declares, that the custom there was to receive the blessed
sacrament from the hands of the bishop only, whom he calls
the jiresident, that is, whosoever was chief in the assembly,
whether bishop or presbyter. But yet, I confess, that this
custom of the deacons delivering the blessed sacrament, or
at least one part of it, viz., the chalice, by degrees became
the custom in most Churches in after ages ; and so, passing
from one thing to another, in time they came to administer
the sacrament of baptism, and at last to the ministration of
the Word, the business which the apostles peculiarly re-
served for themselves, and which the bishops also, for a long
time, reserved entirely to themselves
Thus, you see, in process of time, how strangely things alter
from the original institution. The bishops omit preaching,
and become servants of tables ; and the deacons, from ser-
ving of tables, step up into the pulpit and become preachers.
But Petavius takes upon him to prove deaconship a spiritual
order, and brings us a more early author for it than Justin,
that noble martyr Ignatius, who, in his ejjistle to the Tral-
lians, calls deacons (as Petavius conceives) ministers of the
mysteries of Christ. Here I find that which I often lament,
learned men to go in a track, one after another ; and some
through inadvertency, some through partiality, take many
passages of ancient authors quite different from their mean-
ing, as here, all following the first erroneous interpreter of
Ignatius. Sure this fancy of deacons ran much in his head,
otherwise he could never have found them here ; for it is evi-
dent the word deaconus in this place relates to the presbyter
newly before mentioned, telling the people they ought to be
obedient to the presbyters as to the apostles ; (then follows)
' You must, therefore, please them in all things, being minis-
ters of the mysteries of Christ.'
He (Petavius) tells us out of the Acts that Philip and Ste-
phen, both deacons, were preachers of the Word — that is, a
spiritual work, therefore belongs to a spiritual order. I would
gladly know who informed Peta%'ius that Philip, who preached
to the eunuch, and afterwards went about preaching to others,
was Philip the deacon, and not rather Philip the apostle, as
seems to me far more probable ; for Philip the deacon was,
APPENDIX. 109
by his office, to reside at Jerusalem, and take care of the
poor. Thither the alms of the faithful were sent to relieve
the saints at Jerusalem. But you farther urge, ' Surely
Stephen was a deacon,' and let Philip also, if you please, it
signifies little to the purpose. Sure I can show out of Scrip-
ture preachers that were in no spiritual order — neither
presbyters, nor deacons neither, as Aquila and Priscilla, his
wife too, and Apollos likewise, to whom they both preached,
and instructed him more fully. Sure they did not ordain
Apollos a deacon ; nor can I believe any of the apostles
ordained him deacon, and sent him forth to preach before
he was well catechised in the Word. He was not so much
as baptized in Christ, but knew only the baptism of John.
If not baptized, surely not ordained deacon ; yet he prevailed,
and mightily convinced the Jews It is
evident, then, from Scripture, that the first institution of
deacons was a mere lay office — I will not say a profane office
(as some too grossly and irreverently have termed it), but a
pious and honourable office in the Church of God, to serve
tables, to take care of God's poor ; but, as I have showed, in
process of time, it became quite another thing, and so differ-
ent from the original institution, that it made Chrysostom
and divers others great and good men, doubt whether the
apostles did not constitute two sorts of deacons — some for
the lay office, some for spiritual offices. Had Chrysostom
consulted only Scripture, he would never have doubted nor
dreamed of two sorts of deacons, there being no mention at
all but of one ; but he seeing the practice of the Church,
which he was unwilling to condemn, so different from that
one apostolical institution of deacons, this so confounded the
good man that he knew not well what to make of it, and
willing to piece Scripture and the present practice together,
to put a new patch upon an old gai*meut, made the rent
the wider, rending the deaconship in two pieces, which of
old was but one, only to serve tables ; which office, he that
used well, purchased to himself a good degree, a good esteem ;
and so it might be a recommendation to the degree of priest-
hood, though no necessary step to it." — P. 52.
After perusing these extracts, the reader will not wonder
at the strange applications which have been made of the
office of deacon in the course of ecclesiastical history, and
which are made still in the Church of Rome. Part of the
office, after it had lost its original design, was to direct the
people, in their Church devotions, where each part began,
they being too ignorant to know themselves. Hence the
110 APPENDIX.
deacons were called " holy criers." By license from the
bishop they had authority to preach, to restore penitents, and
grant absolution, and to represent the bishops in general
councils — functions which involve the leading duties of the
ministerial office. In the Church of Rome it is the deacon's
office to incense the officiating priest or prelate — to lay the
corporal on the altar — to receive the patten or cup from the
subdeacon, and to present it to the person officiating — to
incense the choir — to receive the pix from the officiating
prelate, and carry it to the subdeacon ; and at the pontifical
mass, when the bishop gives the blessing, to put the mitre
on his head, and to take off the archbishop's pall and lay it on
the altar ! — Vide Encyclopcedia Britannica, 7th edit.. Deacon.
According to the ordination of deacon in the Church of Eng-
land, he is to assist in the dispensation of the communion,
but he is limited to the administration of the wine !
No. II.
REVIVAL OF THE ORDER OF DEACONS STRONGLY AND IM-
MEDIATELY RECOMMENDED BY MINISTERS AND ELDERS
OF THE ESTABLISHED CHURCH IN EDINBURGH, 1841.
It may not be unknown to the reader, that during the last
winter the state of the poor, in connection with remedial
measures, has been matter of full and anxious considera-
tion by ministers and elders of the Established Church, both
in Edinburgh and Glasgow. In the latter an Association
was formed, which regularly met once a fortnight. Under
its auspices a very interesting course of lectures was de-
livered, which has since been re-delivered in Edinburgh, and
is now in the course of publication. Among many sugges-
tions which have been thrown out for the improvement of the
physical, intellectual, moral, and religious condition of the
poor, especially in large towns, the subject of the revival
of the deaconship was frequently noticed, and though no for-
mal resolution was passed in Glasgow, I may safely say that
the proposal was uniformly and unanimously approved as
highly important, and fitted, where realized, to be useful in
a variety of ways.
In Edinburgh the idea has been embodied in an interest-
ing document, entitled " Statement by a Committee appointed
at a Meeting of certain Ministers and Elders of the City
Churches to Consider and Report upon the best Means of
Promoting the Efficiency of our Parochial Administration,"
APPENDIX. Ill
Among various plans, that of a re\'ival of the deaconship is
represented as essential and required to be first and im-
mediately adopted.
" With reference, again, to the kind of agency which should
be employed, the Committee are unanimously of opinion, that,
without superseding the assistance of other Adsitors, who may
be willing to co-operate with them, in discharging the duties
which every private Christian may lawfully undertake, with a
view to the comfort, improvement, and instruction of his
fellow-men, the first measure that should be adopted, is the
restoration in all our parishes of the order of deacons, — an order
of office-bearers, the institution of which is expressly recorded
in the Holy Scriptures (Acts vi.), and recognised by the con-
stitution and standards of the Church of Scotland,* — * The
Scripture doth hold out deacons as distinct officers in the
Church — whose office is perpetual ; to whose office it belongs,
not to preach the word or administer the sacraments, but
to take special care in distributing to the necessities of the
poor.' t
" Without entering into a detailed description of the duties
of deacons and the relation of their office to that of elders,
it may suffice to say, in general, that, while much of the
benefit which we expect from their being restored in our city
churches, will arise from the discharge of duties which are
common to them with other office-bearers and even private
members of the Church, it is their peculiar and distinctive
function to provide for the necessities of the poor, and * espe-
cially of those who belong to the household of faith.' The
Church is Christ's almoner ; and every congregation is bound,
and should deem it a privilege, to supply the wants of its poorer
members. And this obligation cannot be said to be dis-
charged when the whole poor of a city are thrown, without
distinction of character or condition, on the funds of a work-
house, and no other relief provided for the pious and exem-
plary, than what is equally given to the profligate
. . . It cannot be reasonably doubted that their appoint-
ment would be attended with the most beneficial effects,
inasmuch as many private Christians would most gladly con-
tribute to carry on a system of efficient parochial superinten-
dence, and the wholesome influence of such agency would be
felt in a thousand ways, even though the deacons had com-
paratively little to give in the shape of alms.
* Dunlop's Parochial Law. Pardovan's Collection.
t Form of Church Government, 520. See also, First Book of Discipline,
c. 108 ; Second Book, c. 8.
112 APPENDIX.
"The whole subject is most earnestly recommended to the
serious and prayerful consideration of the ministers and elders
of the Church;'
Believing that the reader will be desirous to see the other
remedial suggestions of the same report, and that they may
be useful in different and distant quarters, I take the liberty
to subjoin the remainder of the " Statement." I have only
to add, that it bears the much respected names of the Rev.
Messrs Buchanan, C. J. Brown, Guthrie, Sym, and Alexander
Dunlop, Esq., elder,
" It is universally admitted, that, in the present condition
of the city parishes, there are many lamentable evils — spiri-
tual, moral, and economical — which demand the serious
attention of every office-bearer in the Church, and loudly call
for some prompt and practical remedy.
" The habitual non-attendance of multitudes at any place
of public worship — the indifference which prevails to a wide
extent as to the privilege of communion — the neglect of
family worship and instruction — the intemperance and profli-
gacy of some— the imprudent habits of others — the abject
poverty of one class — the precarious and ill-remunerated
employment of another — the perpetual struggle which many
an industrious family must wage with want ; and the immi-
nent hazard to which they are exposed of sinking, on any
occasion of domestic affliction or stagnation of trade, which
forces them to have recourse to the pawnbroker, into utter
and hopeless indigence : — these may be enumerated as a few
of the many evils which requii-e to be redressed.
" While there are materials in every parish which may
ultimately be made subservient for its internal improvement,
in most cases the parishioners must be acted on, in the first
instance, ab extra ; as, from their practical exclusion from the
parish church, they cannot be stimulated by the ordinary
means of pastoral influence or public instruction.
" There exists, however, in every congregation, a vast fund
of moral influence, capable of being made to bear with pro-
digious and most beneficial effect on the parish ; an influence
which at present may be said, in a great measure, to be
dormant, or to lie waste ; and which only requires to be
concentrated and directed into the right channels, to accom-
plish, under the blessing of God, the desired reformation.
The exertion of this influence would be ' twice bless'd ;' it
would be a blessing to the parishioners, and not less to the
members of the congregation itself. * If thou draw out thy
soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul, then shall
APPENDIX. 113
THY light rise in obscurity, and th v darkness shall be as the
noonday.' — Isa. Iviii, 10.
" It was long since observed, that ' if any eflfectual impres-
sion is to be made in the moral condition of a parish, it must
be by means of a more extensice agency, by which single families
may be brought under a course of moral inspection and dis-
cipline ;' and ' that what bids defiance to individual exertion,
may be accomplished by extensive co-operation.'' *
" On this sound and enlightened principle, and with a view
to a thorough and pervading system of Christian influence, a
large number of ofl&ce-bearers or agents is required ; so that
a district might be assigned to each, containing not more than
ten or twelve contiguous families. There is reason to believe
that many eminent Christians would deem it a privilege to
be engaged in this way in their Master's seriice, and to
minister to the temporal and spiritual welfare of those of
whom He said, * Forasmuch as ye did it unto one of the least
of these my brethren, ye did it unto me.' They would feel
it to be a relief to them to have their attention directed to
a specified field of Christian exertion, instead of being, as
they are, embarrassed and distracted by applications from all
quarters, which they can neither altogether refuse, nor yet
thoroughly investigate ; and if once engaged in this humble
but most beneficent enterprise, it is not possible that, with
the ordinary feelings of human nature, they should fail to
take a deep, and tender, and permanent interest in all the
members of those families which have thus been committed
to their care. At present, the elders have the same feeling
in regard to their districts, of which every faithful minister
is conscious in regard to his parish, — that they are too large
to be thoroughly pervaded by any moral influence which they
can exert ; and hence, from the utter hopelessness of doing
what is really impracticable, much that might be accom-
plished by a subdivision of labour is left undone. But with
a more extensive agency, and more complete organization,
every difficulty may be surmounted, and the highest hopes of
Christian philanthropy fulfilled.
" The practical objects to which such an agency should attend,
are such as these : —
" 1. The office-bearer or agent of a Christian Church should
make himself thoroughly acquainted with every family in-
trusted to his care, and gain their confidence and affection,
as a friend, in whose kindness they can confide, and from
whom they may expect counsel and advice when required.
* Dr Abercrombie.
114 APPENDIX.
" 2. Another object is to see that every family be suitably
supplied with Bibles.
" 3. To see that * every boy in the district be taught to read
and write, and every girl to read and sew.' *
" 4. To see that the children go regularly to school, and both
parents and children to some place of public worship.
" 5. To see that they be suitably accommodated with seats,
if they wish them, in their parish church.
" 6. To aid, by advice and influence, in procuring or direct-
ing to employment, where it is needed, and especially in pro-
curing situations for girls when they leave school, and are fit
for service.
" 7. To prevent and counteract, as far as possible, the perni-
cious effects of dependence on public charities — by stimulating
their own industry — by procuring temporary private relief
when it is absolutely necessary, and especially in the case of
industrious families, when they have been visited with do-
mestic affliction, which often reduces them so low, that unless
they are relieved promptly and liberally, they can never
afterwards recover themselves — and above all, by encourag-
ing habits of economy and saving, so as to provide against
the evil day.
" The means by which such an agency might accomplish
these beneficent objects, are alike simple and efficient. It
might be recommended,
*' 1. To visit every family in the district as often as possible,
and not less frequently than once a-month. In a district
containing twelve families, this might be accomplished at the
expense of half an hour a- week.
" 2. To spend an ' hour on Sabbath in one or other of the
houses (perhaps the better way would be to go round them
in rotation), where the children might be assembled for reli-
gious instniction in little domestic Sabbath schools, and thus
the habit of family instruction and worship might be gradu-
ally introduced, especially if the parents were reminded of
their duty in this respect, and furnished with some simple
manual, expository and devotional.
" 3. To collect into a deposit fund such small sums as the
parents or children might wish to save, and pay them over
to the Savings' Bank. This noble institution, to be exten-
sively available for the benefit of the working-classes, must
be worked on the aggressive principle, — as in Liverpool, where
agents go round the districts every week, to collect the sav-
ings of the poor, and transfer them to the bank, and have in
* Dr Chalmer*.
APPENDIX. 115
this way accumulated sums to the amoimt of six thousand
pounds.
" 4. To report cases of sickness to the minister and elders ;
and when any difficulty occurs, or any case requiring peculiar
treatment, to bring it under the notice of the elder in the
first instance, who may, if necessary, consult with other
elders or the minister ; and to report generally on the state
of the whole district, at a meeting of the agents, with the
elders and minister, to be held at stated periods, say once
a-quarter.
" 5. To keep a roll or book of district statistics, containing
the names, ages, and occupations of all the members of the
various families, to be revised and re-written once a-year,
after the term in May, and the old ones preserved for the
purpose of comparison.
*' Many other methods of practical usefulness will readily
suggest themselves to a Christian agent, whose heart is in
the work ; such as the promoting of cleanliness, sufficient
ventilation, and many more too minute to be specified, but
which, in the aggregate, would confer a general and perma-
nent blessing on every little locality.
" That the establishment of some such agency is highly de-
sirable, and loudly called for, in the present circumstances
of society, cannot be doubted by any one who is at all
conversant with the actual state of our city parishes ; and
whether it be regarded with reference to the diffusion of
saving spiritual instruction, or to the secondary, but still
important object of increasing the means of temporal comfort
among our parishioners, its value cannot be too highly esti-
mated. It would seem to be the likeliest means, under the
Divine blessing, of renewing that friendly intercourse be-
twixt the different classes of society, which once existed,
but which has been too much interrupted by the habits
of modern life, and of reviving those reciprocal feelings of
kindliness which cannot be allowed to decay without being
supplanted by jealousies, which threaten the destruction of
all that is bland, and peaceful, and happy in a weU-condi-
tioned community. It might exert a prodigious power, in
the way of checking intemperance, preventing or curing
poverty, and arrest the degeneracy of those who, yielding to
the pressure of circumstances, are ready to sink into the most
abject debasement. It might save many from the prison and
penitentiary, many more from the charity work-house, and
more stiU from the ruinous habit of resorting on every emer-
gency to the pawnbroker's shop.
116 APPENDIX.
" If the establishment of such an agency be a desirable
object, the only questions which require to be considered
are. Is it practicable ? and, if it be, What kind of agency
should be employed ? and, What means can be placed at
their disposal ?
" That the establishment of such an agency is practicable,
appears not only from the experience of St John's parish
in Glasgow, and St John's parish in Edinburgh, as well as
others which might be mentioned ; but from the declared
willingness of many Christian men to lend their aid in pro-
moting these great objects of Christian philanthropy." *
While there can be no question that much may be done
in this way to ameliorate the whole character and condition,
especially of the humbler classes in society, — while partial
success can be appealed to in a case known to the writer of
several years' duration ; it is right, at the same time, to bear
in mind, in order to prevent disappointment and the waste
of resources on impracticable or doubtful expedients, that it
is only an approximation which after all is attainable, — that
it must be extremely difficult to work machinery of such im-
mense magnitude, — that there is great fluctuation among the
agents, and no small danger of their getting wearied and
falling away in the course of time. Not at all in the spirit of
discouragement, but rather to prevent exaggerated hopes,
which are always injurious, I beg to subjoin the following
facts, which go far to show that the visitations and sviperinten-
dence of private Christians, however important in their own
place, cannot be depended on as a substitute for the regular
and appropriate parochial machinery of the Established
Church. It must only be employed as a help and a supple-
ment ; so contemplated, it is highly useful and may experi-
mentally convince not a few who now hang back from bearing
office in the Christian Church (though soUcited in the Pro-
vidence of God to do so), that there is nothing so very for-
midable in the moral and religious charge of a limited number
of families, as should discourage them from undertaking it.
Still the only security for a permanent and trustworthy pro-
vision, is the extensive subdivision of parishes, and the ap-
pointment of tinily evangelical pastors, elders, and deacons,
to a manageable population.
The Rev. Mr Gibson of Glasgow, whose services to the
Established Church in various ways, and in connection with
* In St John's, Edinburgh, I understand that there 80 persons who, whether
as office-bearers or as priyate Christians, devote their moral and religious
care to the parish.
APPENDIX. 117
the Inquiries of the Religious Instruction Commissioners
among others, are well kno^Ti and appreciated, proved
before the Board, from unquestionable authority, that a
single successful parochial church in Glasgow exceeded, in
point of moral and religious result, the attainments of ex-
tensive associations of Evangelical Dissenters, numbering
many visitors : such are the fluctuations and uncertainties
which belong to the operations of a visiting society of
private Christians, however estimable. The facts are un-
deniable, resting chiefly on the acknowledgment of intel-
ligent Dissenters themselves. One minister had in his
congregation 30 agents at the time he gave his evidence ; at
the time of the report of the association, two months suljse-
quently, they had fallen to 14 ; by the time of the printing
of the report again, they had risen to 22. Another minister
in a single year lost 10 agents and 6 meetings ; and then,
with regard to the success of the scheme in drawing out the
people to receive religious instruction, a society with 50 agents
and 11 stations had an attendance of from 15 to 75 persons
each. Taking 30 as a fair average, we have here 330, while
a single new church has been the means of drawing to the
worship of God between 200 and 300 who had not been in
the habit of attending any place of worship before, indepen-
dently of a large general congregation : this was stated in
evidence. It may be added, that the labour of the diff'erent
Instruction societies and City missions have not been instru-
mental in raising a single place of worship. These facts are
stated, not for the purpose of disparaging the labours of
private Christians, or of the modes of instruction which
Evangelical Dissenters in some of the large towns pursue, —
far from it ; it is believed that much good is, with the Divine
blessing, wrought out by such channels, — good, for which it
becomes every Christian to be thankful, even had it been
much less than it reaUy is. But in comparing diff'erent means
of good, it is well to know which is the more successful, and
to be guarded against exaggerated expectations from what
at first sight seems fair. It is always matter of regret where
superior instrumentality is neglected or not applied, in con-
sequence of a preference for what is supposed to be as good,
while experience has proved its inferiority. In this way,
both time and resources are relatively lost, and faithful men
are discouraged. At the same time, in the absence of the best,
every intelligent Christian will of course choose the next
best, — any thing is better than utter sloth and indifference to
the spiritual welfare of our fellow-men.
H
1 1 8 APPENDIX.
No. III.
PRACTICAL EXEMPLIFICATION OF THE WORKING OF THE
DEACONSIIIP EVEN IN A LARGE TOWN.
One of the deacons of St John's, Glasgow, of well known
intelligence, happening to be a fi-iend, I submitted to hira the
following queries, and received from him the accompanying
answers. Though this parish was upon a peculiar system,
and, in cases where it is knoAvn that there is a fixed legal
provision for the poor, deacons have not the same motives
for strict investigation of cases, still the information is valu-
able, and so far applicable to all parishes, whether under
legal or voluntary management. I am sure the reader will
thank me for the statement. It shows what might be done
in more favourable circumstances. The length of time over
which the testimony extends renders it the more valuable : —
Q. 1. How long were you a deacon of St John's ?
A. Eighteen years,— from 1819 to 1837.
Q. 2. What was the size of your district ; how many fami-
lies ?
A . At my first survey the district contained 99 families of
476 individuals. Next year several additional deacons were
appointed, and my proportion was reduced to 56 families of
nearly 300 members. In 1831 some new houses were built,
increasing the families to 81 — 359 members, and so on from
year to year, till the population amounted to 117 families of
570 members.
Q. 3. What time did the charge occupy ; did you easily
overtake the management ?
A. With 56 families, in ordinary circumstances, very little
of my time was occupied, and my ofiice was by no means
irksome ; but when the families increased to 80, 100, and
upwards, I found it more difficult to keep up my acquaint-
ance in the district, so that I had less comfort in going
amongst them, and whilst my visits were in reality more
requisite, they became less frequent. It is easy to keep up
a pleasant familiar knowledge of a small number of families,
which creates such interest as to carry one readily back to
the district.
Q. 4. What were the general principles on which you acted
in the management of the poor ?
A. My first aim was to become acquainted with all the
APPENDIX. 119
famiEes, and when any person applied for relief, I visited
and made a strict investigation, then gave in a report of the
case at our first monthly meeting. If it was considered that
farther inquiry was requisite, or to relieve me of the odium
of a refusal, if such was thought proper, another deacon was
appointed to visit along with me.
Q. 5. What was the mode in which you sought to carry
your principles into effect ?
A. If the applicant was out of work, or had children able
for work, we used such means as were within our reach to
get employment for them ; or if they had any friends or rela-
tives able to assist them, or were members of any Dissenting
congregation, we were required to apply to any or all of these
quarters before granting any allowance ?
Q. 6, How often were you in the habit of visiting your
district ?
A. The year 1819-20 was one of great depression and great
hardship, and my visits were of course very frequent and
very trying, as the operatives were almost in a state of rebel-
lion, and many of them scowled upon me in defiance ; but by
steady perseverance I was enabled to overcome that feeling,
and gained a knowledge of the people at that time, which
made frequent visits less needful for years to come.
Q. 7. What topics did you find for conversation ?
A. Education, week-day and Sabbath schools, were fruitful
topics on my part, and poverty and distress never failing ones
on the part of the people.
Q. 8. Were you well received ?
A. Yes, with few exceptions ; and in many cases most
cordially welcomed, and much pressed to repeat my visit
soon.
Q. 9. Had you any difficulty in ascertaining the exact
truth ? What means did you employ to reach it ?
A. Where the people thought they had any interest in con-
cealing it, or if they did not understand the object of my in-
quiries, I found it very difl&cult to get at the exact truth, and
frequently have come away with a wrong impression ; how-
ever, this helped to shai'pen my ingenuity, though often baffled
after all.
Q. 10. Do you remember particular cases of good being
done, and of the expression of gratitude for your services ?
A. I can recollect but a very few cases in which the relief
afibrded called forth any expression of gratitude, and that
came from industrious well-doing folks, who were anxious to
help themselves, and who had received from me some little
120 APPENDIX.
acts of kindness besides the parish aid. Of course much real
good was done.
Q. 11. Did you use means to prevent poverty; such as by
encouraging education, church attendance, the savings' bank,
circulating Bibles, finding employment for those out of work ?
A. The means stated in this query were used on various
occasions, but none of them except the last when a person
applied for parish aid ; the others would not have gone well
down with a starving family. The deacons were often very
useful in finding work for the people.
Q. 12. In what would you say that the mainspring of your
management consisted ?
A. Kindness, prompt attention to every application, whether
deser\ang or not ; never administering help in ignorance to
save myself the trouble of a visit ; rigid investigation, &c.
See answer to query 4th.
Q. 13. When the people got accustomed to the St John's
management, did they like it as well as that of other sessions ?
A. For some years at fii'st there was a strong prejudice
against St John's management, — alleging that they were de-
prived of the Town's hospital ; and this was strengthened by
parties from other parishes that ought to have known better ;
but, latterly, I had no complaints on that score, and our im-
ports from other parishes in town were always greater than
our exports.
Q. 14. Was it as liberal in cases of real distress ?
A. We were furnished with a Ust of the allowances made
by the Town's hospital for cases beyond the sessional, and we
were regulated by it ; but, in some cases, such as palsy, &c.,
we were constrained to give a very liberal aliment.
Q. 15. Did you live near the district, or do you attach any
importance to this ?
A. I did not live in my district, but (though many of my
brethren held a different opinion) I think it of very great im-
portance that the deacon should do so, as it tends to save
much of his time, and give him greater facilities in acquiring
a knowledge of his district, as well as a benefit to the appli-
cants themselves.
Q. 16. Are there any suggestions which occur to you as
important in connection with the management, such as regular
attendance on the court of deacons, &c.
A. I consider regular attendance at the deacons' meetings
of the utmost importance ; it keeps up his interest, adds to
his knowledge and experience, and strengthens the hands of
his fellow-labourers. During my 18 years I declined all
APPENDIX. 121
engagements which would interfere with those meetings, and
was absent on only six or eight occasions, owing either to
sickness or being necessarily from home. I think, also, the
minister of the parish should be as often present as possible,
and ought to make himself well acquainted with the working
of the system, as his opinion will naturally have much weight
with inexperienced hands.
No. IV.
savings' banks in connection with the deaconship.
I HAVE adverted to the important ser^dce which Deacons,
in the exercise of their appropriate calling, might render
to the humbler classes, by the encouragement of provident
institutions. The prevention of poverty surely falls as dis-
tinctly within the range of their duties as its relief? In
Manchester I understand that there is a society of young
men, who may be said to act as pioneers and assistants to
the Savings' Bank. They weekly go through theu' districts,
and collect from the families what they can spare, how-
ever small, and deposit it in their name in the bank. In
this way a kind interest is shown by a higher in behalf of a
humbler class of the community, money is saved which
might have been squandered or lost, and habits of fore-
thought are formed. In short, the parochial principle is
applied to the savings' bank. The facilities which are afforded
in a kind way for directing their resources, encourage fami-
lies to become depositors in the savings' bank, who would
never otherwise have dreamed of it themselves ; and where
good habits are created, the parties are soon able to walk
alone. I am persuaded that deacons in the Christian Church,
consisting chiefly of young men of an active turn of mind,
of intelligence and religious character, and whose very office,
with its responsibilities, points to the care and welfare of
the poor, would often, and that with the greatest ease and
advantage, discharge the duties which are accomplished by a
general association at Manchester. It is probable that the
agents of the Association only contribute in part to the success
of the " INIanchester and Salford Bank for Savings," but the
prosperity of the institution should form an argument for
calling in the aid of such Christian agents in other cases. It
appears, from the last report, that there are about 15,000 de-
positors,— that the whole sum due them is about L.400,000, —
that from the commencement, in 1818, to the present time,
1 22 APPENDIX.
the deposits under L.5, indicating the poorer classes, have
amounted to about 200,000, — and that last year they consti-
tuted three-fourths of the entire deposits, the gi-eatest number
of them being between os. and 10s. 6d. It is interesting to
notice among the depositors 1280 widows, and 5540 minors,
which in many cases is probably another name for orphans.
How could a faithful deacon more usefully occupy himself
than as the encourager of such excellent institutions, whether
as in some districts himself a receiver, or in others as an
active agent, diffusing information and collecting sums ?
No. V.
EXAGGERATED VIEWS OF THE CRIME OF GLASGOW, SCOT-
LAND, &C., — THE SUCCESS OF RELIGIOUS AND EDUCA-
TIONAL MEANS IN REPRESSING IT.
Some may be disposed to ask what connection this topic has
with the revival of the order of deacon. There is an impor-
tant connection. In addition to regard for primitive Church
order, one of the leading reasons for attempting the revival
of the deaconship is, to ameliorate the condition of the hum-
bler classes of society, especially in the large towns. But,
in order to this, it is desirable to have just views of the real
nature of that condition. Now, I trust I am, in some tolera-
ble measure, alive to the degradation and wretchedness of a
large body of the community, and of not a few even in rural
districts. But, on that very account, I lament that exag-
gerated views of the evil with which the nation has to con-
tend, particularly in reference to crime, or the moral condition
of the himibler classes, should be entertained and propagated.
The evils are sufficiently great in themselves, and amply
notorious, without needing exaggeration. To overcolour
moral evils, to exaggerate crimes, if this be done to any seri-
ous extent, is always very injurious. It disheartens the good
from using any exertions to correct what seems so hopeless,
and it corrupts the wicked yet more : they look upon crime
as a sort of necessity springing out of an unhappy state of
society — they come to think of it lightly ; and thus the very
prevalence of sin tends to propagate it. Besides, exaggerated
statements in regard to crime are first misunderstood and
then perverted, to the disparagement, it may be, of the cha-
racter and best institutions of our land, among foreigners.
How greedily does the Papist of the Continent devour the
APPENDIX. 1 23
grossly over-coloured representations of Scottish crime, and
turn these to the disadvantage of our Protestant Christianity ;
perhaps alleging, with truth, that his alleged error is more
favourable to morality than our boasted truth. In this way,
general and serious prejudices are fostered against the Word
and Church of God in their purest forms — and all for what I
The gratification of an idle wonder, perhaps unenquii'ing cre-
didity, which delights in the terrible. It brings no counter-
balancing good. Nay, it is a just moral retribution on exag-
geration, that he who deals in it comes to be disbelieved
even where he is trustworthy.
To take a few illustrations of the exaggeration to which I
refer, Mr Alison, the Sheriif of Glasgow, in his work " On
Population," vol. ii. p. 80, states the sum annually expended
in this city on whisky as at least £1,200,000, in other words,
nearly one and a-quarter million sterling ; of which he gives
the million to the working- classes. Now, appalling and most
lamentable as the intemperance of Glasgow may be, I am
satisfied, on the best evidence of which the case admits, that
there is vast exaggeration here. JMr Collins, when Presi-
dent of the Temperance Society ten years ago, a gentle-
man of noted intelligence and candour, after great and
anxious consideration, estimated the whole Glasgow con-
sumption— and it is enormous — at £482,000 ; and his calcula-
tion was generally allowed to be just and reasonable. The
population at that time was above 200,000, and though it has
grown largely within the last 10 years, yet the increase has
not been such as to lend the slightest countenance to the
swelling figures of the Sheriff at the time they were published,
or even now. To show the extreme exaggeration which has
been indulged in, it is only necessary to remind the reader,
that were Mr AUson's statement correct, every family in
Glasgow must spend £20 a- year on spirits alone, while very
many of them never taste spirits at all, and multitudes have
not above r2s. a- week, or £26, for their whole annual sub-
sistence. Does every labourer spend £20 out of his £26 on
spirits ? Let families even in the higher ranks of life con-
sider whether their spirit account alone amounts yearly to
£20. Surely every one must at once see the extravagance
of the assertion : and yet the official name of the Sheriff
gives currency to such sad and injurious representations.
Of course, if some families do not consume spirits at all, or
consume less than £20 worth yearly, the greater amount must
be divided among those who do.
Parallel to the above is another in the same work, that
1 24 APPENDIX.
*•' nearly 30,000 persons are every Saturday niglit in a state
of brutal intoxication." If the consumption was so enormous
as icas alleged, it would not be wonderful that the intoxica-
tion should correspond. It may be hoped that when the one
disappears the other will also vanish. What possible e\'i-
dence can be referred to in proof of 30,000 weekly intoxica-
tions, the vast body of them, if they exist at all, secret ; and
unless they can be established, is. it right in itself, or fair to
the character of the city, or patriotic, to deal in such hateful
charges ? The whole number of " drunk and disorderly,"
as appears from the records of the police-office — and they are
decreasing, while the popidation is increasing — were, in the
last three years : —
1839, . . 3864
1840, . . . 3746
1841, . . 3642
These numbers mark the cases which are amenable to the
police in a population of 175,000, not every Saturday night,
but in the course of a whole year ; and though there are very
many cases of intoxication which never come within the
cognisance of the police-office, and the above do not em-
brace the whole police cases of Glasgow, yet surely the
returns of little more than 3000 in a year, in the police of
the city, pour utter ridicule upon the extravagance of 30,000
every week ?
There is a still more abominable charge, and that, too, given
on parliamentary evidence. It is to the effect that the
factory girls, who constitute so important a part of the popu-
lation of Glasgow, are abandoned to the worst species of
profligacy. It is part of the cruelty involved in such charges,
that they do not admit of proof or disproof, save by a trial of
one's moral delicacy. I have thought it due to the character
of a large body of workers, not a few unbefriended orphans, to
make inquiry in quarters where the truth is most likely to
be known, and I am satisfied that the charge is utterly base-
less. Factory females are not worse in point of character
than females of the same station of life in other departments.
The late Rev. Dr M'Gill, the Professor of Theology in the Col-
lege, who took a lively interest in institutions for reclaiming
offenders, and who was a man of sound observation, rated
young women working in the factory, not in his 1st, but in
his 4th class of offenders ; and the returns of the Lock Hos-
pital— I have it on the testimony of the medical officer who
has attended for many years — is in harmony with Dr M'Gill's
conclusions. These returns show,
APPENDIX. 1 25
^lad been connected
100D n^e X- ^ X r 1- 1 im ! with the mills. These
1838, 265 patients, out of which 101 ^. ^n ., ^ ^^^. „,^^,
1 s^Q 97^ ^ ' j out of the vast num-
Jc^A iin " " ^H 1 bers working in the
1840, 236 „ „ 64 .„ ® „
' " " I milLs are a small
[_ proportion.
An intelligent Christian who was for six years connected
with a mill, as a teacher, states, that out of 400 females
there was only one visible departure from moral propriety in
three years, and that the seducer was a person of superior
station, who married the person whom he injured. The same
witness testifies what I have learned of other mills, that the
very suspicion of any impropriety in a single instance was
resented, — that it was considered as bringing a stain on the
character of the factory, and that the guilty party or parties
felt their position so uncomfortable, that they might be said
to be hunted out of the employment. Another gentleman,
who, in the character of a missionary and Sabbath school
teacher, was for four years a Christian labourer among a mill
population, concurs in the same testimony, and his powers of
observation are remarkably shrewd. Other evidence, such
as that of the intelligent managers of mills, could be ap-
pealed to to the same purpose ; but it is unnecessary. I may
merely add, that it appears from the New Statistical Account
of one of the parishes of Renfrewshire, drawn up by an ex-
cellent minister, that in a parish where there are two large
cotton mills, the proportion of young women gi^dng evidence
of piety, and making a profession of Christianity by be-
coming communicants, is as high as young females of the
same class engaged in agricultural employments, in the same
parish. Nothing, then, can be more reckless than the state-
ments which have been made. There may be particular
mills whose character is low; but it is unfair, in the teeth of
facts, to convert these into a universal experience, and that
of the worst possible description. How would we ourselves,
— how would the middling or the higher classes of society
like sweeping charges to be brought against their general
character or occupation ; and is not character as dear and
as important to the humbler as to the more opulent members
of society ? It is due to many members of the Church of
Christ to defend their character from these most unjust
aspersions, and to call upon their accusers to establish their
charges, or retract them. It is to be feared that nothing
better than theoretical notions of modem society lie at the
root of the general accusation against character, and that
facts are assumed to help out fond but feeble conclusions.
126 APPENDIX.
Turning, however, from the particular case of Glasgow,
let us advert to the condition of Scotland generally under the
same aspect — that of crime. That there is a decided in-
crease of crime throughout Scotland is a lamentable truth,
which calls for humiliation, and the most active application
of appropriate means to check and prevent it. With the
inadequate moral and religious machinery in operation, it is
not wonderful ; but it is not less certain, that here, too, there
is gross exaggeration, or at least that explanations (seldom
if ever given) are indispensable, to prevent the most serious
misapprehensions and manifold false inferences.
It appears from official returns, that in Scotland in
1832, there were 2431 commitments for crime.
1836, „ 2922 „
1840, „ 3872 „
I take these years because they are recent, and form an
equal division of time. Certainly, under whatever aspect
the progress can be viewed, it is serious and affecting. In
eight years there have been 1442 additional cases ; but we
have to remember,
1st, The increase of the population, which has been, as
appears from the recent census, 11 per cent, in Scotland
during the last ten years.
2d, The influx of Irish into the large towns ; and as rail-
way labourers, &c., of late into more rural districts.
Sd, The growing establishment of county police, which, as a
new and zealous force, brings upon record every offence which
is committed, however inconsiderable, and which, by new re-
gulations, multiplies, especially at first, the chances of offence.
With regard to the first — the increase of population — this,
though often overlooked, is a very important element. For
instance, it appears that over Great Britain and Ireland, in
the last ten years, it is equal to an increase of three millions
— a number more than the whole population of Scotland. It is
plain, that in the natural course of things, without any special
blame attributable to any parties, a proportional increase of
crime is to be looked for, and from that increase it is not to
be expected that Scotland should be exempted.
The recent and growing influx of Irish, chiefly members of
the Church of Rome, is well known ; but their connection
with the increase of crime in Scotland is less understood than
it ought to be. From a variety of sources of proof, it is ma-
nifest that that connection is a very important one.
In the year 1840, of the offenders brought before the Magis-
trates of Glasgow, 791, constituting one-fourth of the whole
APPENDIX. 1 27
number, were Irish — (dde Capt. Miller's " State of Crime "
for 1840) — while the Irish population do not constitute
70,000, or one-fourth of the pojDulation, but a much smaller
proportion, probably a ninth or a tenth. Of the 205 oft'enders
sent to Calton Bridewell in 1839, considerably above one-
third were Irish. So, of the 83 boys received into the House
of Refuge for Repressing Juvenile Delinquency, in 1839, not
less than 24 were the children of an Irish fatlier, 18 of an
Irish mother — in other words, one-half were of Irish parent-
age. Though almost all the youths may have been bom in
this country, yet they inherited the low moral standard and
social condition of their parents. — {Vide Second Annual Re-
port.) Of the patients in the Lock Hospital, one-sixth were
born in Ireland. If tried by the test of parentage, the num-
bers Avould have been far greater. Of 1038 destitute families
exposed to the temptations of crime, relieved by extraordi-
nary charity, in 1838, about one-third (310) were Irish ; and
let it not be thought that this state of things is peculiar to
Glasgow. Other large towns have their share ; nay, it is felt
in rural districts. Of the " strangers " convicted for crime
in the county and burghs of East Lothian, in 1841, not less
than one-fifth were Irish, though this is an agricultural county,
on the east coast of Scotland, and therefore removed from
the western influx, and without any work calling particulai-ly
for Irish labour.
I do not mention these things as reflecting upon the Irish
nation, or as intimating that those belonging to it who settle
in Scotland are not suitable objects of all the care which
faithful pastors, elders, and deacons can bestow, but simply
as correcting false impressions regarding crime in Scotland
— ^impressions fitted to paralyze good men from making any
attempt at the moral improvement of their country.
The remaining point, viz., the establishment of County
police, however important and useful, and really in the end
preventive of crime, tends in the meantime to swell the
ajyjMrent amount, and so to mislead those who are not at the
pains to inquire. That this new force, which has already
been introduced into several counties, and is, I believe, in
the course of being introduced into all, has a very marked
effect in adding to the apparent increase of crime, is abun-
dantly ob\aous. It is cleai-, from a comparison of the annual
official returns of crime by the Lord Advocate, that within
the last four or five years there has been a great proportional
increase of offences. Previous to that date, the increase was
about a hundred offences a-year, which might in a great de-
128 APPENDIX.
gree be accounted for by the progress of the population ; but
latterly the increase has been 200, 300, 400, additional cases
in a year. A remarkable illustration of this is furnished by
the county of East Lothian, or Haddingtonshire. So lately
as 1837, its criminal offenders are stated at 23 ; whereas,
under the county police, in 1840, the convictions rise up to
275, and in 1841 to not less than 611. Now, no one who is
acquainted with that peaceful rural county, can imagine that
it is really advancing in so frightful a ratio of crime, and all
the while without attracting any attention from the country,
and without alarming those who are living in the midst of it.
A glance at the county returns goes far to explain the case.
It appears, that of the offences of 1841, nearly one-third are
what are called " road offences," such as carters not attend-
ing to their horses, clothes drying on the road hedges, animals
grazing on the road-side, &c., &c., — offences surely which
scarcely deserve the name of crimes. Then a great many
others are most trifling, — so much so, that out of the 61 1, only
two were so serious as to need to be tried by the High Court
of Justiciary. " About two-thirds,^' the superintendent reports,
** of the jyersons convicted were detected by the j^olice when in the act
of committing the offence for which they were punished^' — an indi-
cation at once of the zeal of the police, and the comparatively
trifling character of the offences. Were the offences more
serious, the parties, we may well believe, w^ould have been
more on their guard. If, under the new rural police, all the
other counties of Scotland make up similar criminal returns,
it is plain that Scotland will soon be made to appear a very
nursery and home of criminals ; and all at a distance, and
those who are on the spot, but are not at the pains to inquire,
must be most injuriously misled and deceived. It is possible
that all who appear in the county police lists are not included
in the Lord Advocate's official returns (though there is the
same division of courts before which offenders are tried), but
there can be no question that the operation of such a force
must tend greatly to swell the general returns.
As an evidence of the necessity of classification in criminal
returns, and of the propriety of excluding such offences as
" Road offences " from the catalogue of crimes, it may be
stated, that " Contraventions of police regulations " come
under the same head in the large towns ; and nothing would
be more unfair or misleading than to reckon them among
moral offences. I am happy to be able to refer to the testi-
mony of Capt. Miller of the Glasgow Police upon this point.
After stating, in answer to a number of queries which I put
APPENDIX. 129
to him on the state of crime, and which he kindly answered,
that in the general aggregate of offences in Glasgow, not less
than 2562 in the year 1840, and 2559 in 1841, were « con-
traventions of police regulations," he adds : — " Although the
number of convictions for contraventions of the poKce regula-
tions, during the last tw^o years, has been larger than formerly,
it is no evidence of crime. On the contrary, even the num-
ber of such offences has been falling off ; and the difference
arises from the more strict enforcement of the police regula-
tions. This class of offences^ hotceter, is distinct from criminal
matters, and their increase or decrease affords no data for fixing the
state of crime." The whole number of offences, as brought
under Capt. ^Miller's returns in 1841, is 8727. This, under
any circumstances, is an appalling number ; but to those
who do not analyse it, it must seem to indicate a much worse
state of things than really exists. Deducting the " drunk
and disorderly, and the contraventions of police rules," the
number is reduced to 2546 for crime, strictly so called — a
number which, in itself, and particularly when the increase
of population is taken into account, shows a decided diminu-
tion from former years. The same point is indicated by the
number of trials at the Glasgow Circuit Courts, which em-
brace cases from the counties of Lanark, Dumbarton, and
Renfrew, though Glasgow siipplies the largest proportion.
In 1839 there were 206 ; in 1840, 152 ; and in 1841, 172.
The increase of the population, in the meantime, and the
growing want of employment, must always be remembered
in forming a general estimate.
In harmony wdth the above, it appears from an interesting
report of Mr Rutherglen, one of the magistrates of the Cal-
ton, read before the " British Association," when in Glas-
gow a few years ago, that the crime in Calton, with a popu-
lation of nearly 30,000, was, in
1836, 3451. Deducting drunk, &c., and pohce contraven-
tions, crime proper is reduced to 837
1839, 2601. Do., do., do., 766
thus showing a decrease of crime, while the population was
increasing, and the outward circumstances of the peojDle not
impro%'ing, but the reverse. With reference to the last year
named (1839), the same gentleman states, — " On a careful
examination of the whole cases, it is gratifying to be able to
state, that the offences were of so light a description during
the year, as on some occasions not to have furnished even
one sufficiently serious to be brought before the Justiciary
130 APPENDIX.
Court during its sittings." He adds, — " The criminal popu-
lation is less by o«e-/ia(^"tlian it was in 1835-6 ; and although
in 1839 there were 2601 charged, and 1799 convicted, yet it
is proper to mention, that the same person has been charged
and convicted as often as three times with petty thefts, and
with other crimes and offences twenty times in the course of
the year ; and it is not in one, but in many cases that this has
occurred." !Mr Rutherglen farther states, that a large pro-
portion of the crime which exists is committed by " the float-
ing population ;" in other words, the parties which are least
accessible to moral and religious means. But for them the
actual crime would be small indeed.
So far from the crime of the city increasing in such a ratio
as to paralyze Christian men from any attempt at the ame-
lioration of society, — so far from its proclaiming, as some
hastily imagine, that all the late schemes and efforts of Chris-
tian Churches are vain and hopeless, I rejoice to have it in
my power again to refer to the testimony of the Captain of
Police.
Though the crime of the city and suburbs had beenAdsibly
and enormously increasing, instead, as we have seen, of pro-
portionally decidedly diminishing, it would not by any means
show that the enlai-ged moral and religious appliances of late
years, by additional schools and churches, &c., had been in-
efl&cacious. The highest good may be doing in some quarters
while evil is doing in others, and, as a whole, the progress of
the latter is strongly and conspicuously onward. But it is
encouraging to be able, not only to point to diminished crime,
but crime diminislied hy moral means.
The following qxiestion was put to Capt. ililler : — " Q. From
any thing which has passed under Capt. Miller's observation,
is he disposed to attribute a share of the diminution of crime
(supposing that there is a decrease) to the moral and educa-
tional means put into operation of late years — such as week-day
and Sabbath schools, additional places of worship, &c. ? A.
The answer is, " From Capt. Miller's own experience, and from
particular inquiries he has made on this subject, he is decidedly of
opinion, that the moral and educational means lately put
into operation, taken in connection with the improved habits
of many of the lower classes, who are members of Temperance
and total abstinence societies, Jiare done much to improve the
moral condition of the pitopile, cmd of course to diminish crime,"
The testimony of the Rev. Dr Black, who, as minister of the
Barony parish, has had his attention particularly called to
the operation of the new churches connected with the Estab-
APPENDIX. 131
lishment, could be appealed to to a similar effect. He has
repeatedly and publicly testified to the success of more than
one of the new churches in diminishing pauperism and im-
proving the social condition of the locality where they have
been planted. Mr Rutherglen, who is a resident in, as well
as a magistrate of, Calton, and who states that his attention
has been particularly called to the operation of additional
schools in connection with one church (St Luke's) in that
locality, still adheres to the statement which he made before
the British Association in 1840, which was to this effect, that
the new church, besides occupying the site of 60 houses which
were the haunts of wretchedness and crime, and so physically
removing a great moral nuisance, had, through the exertions
of the minister and his elders, coupled with the establisliing
of 20 Sabbath schools in the parish, tended greatly both to
reduce crime, and to improve the morals of that part of the
burgh.*
The testimony of Mr ^I'Laren, who has for above ten years
been the Superintendent of the poor of the Barony parish, is
in full harmony with the al)ove representation. He states,
in answer to some queries which I also put to him, that, ten
years ago, in one district of the same parish, he required to
pay the poor £13, 7s. ; the same district now requires only
£2 : 19 :6d. Another requh-ed £11 : 0 : 6d. ; at the present
date it requires £6, 5s. He shows, at the same time, that the
change has not been owing to a less liberal provision for the
poor ; that, on the contrary, the numbers of the poor generally
through the parish have considerably increased, and that the
allowances have been rising in amount ; the change he attri-
butes to moral causes. In answer to one of the queries which
were put to him, he says, — " I have paid considerable atten-
tion to the operation of the new churches and schools, and
am fully of opinion, that the establishing of these has contri-
buted greatly to the diminution of both pauperism and crime.
I might instance several of the quoad sacra parishes, such as
St Stephen's, St Mark's, Bridgeton (all in the Barony); but
I point out St Luke's as one of the poorest localities of the
parish, where the greatest improvement has taken place." It
* There had been five Sabbath schools in the parish prior to 1837, when the
church was opened, but no week-day school. Now there is a week-day
school, partly supported by the General Assembly's Educational Fund, at-
tended by between 200 and 300 children, besides evening classes. There are
also 25 Sabbath schools, attended by 600 children. Besides the labours of the
minister, the parish enjoys the services of 10 elders, who have appropriate dis-
tricts. The population at last census was 3500. I may add, that it has been
remarked by some landlords, that their rents are better paid since the moral
■and religious means were pu' into operation.
132 APPENDIX.
is well for the reader to bear in mind, that while moral im-
provement has been going on, external circumstances have
been adverse ; the population has been increasing, and the
depression among the people, chiefly hand-loom weavers, has
been great. The records of the Church Extension Scheme
prove the same points as the schools and churches referred
to, in regard to more rural districts. Indeed, there the result
is more visible than it can be expected to be in large towns.
To prevent Scottish Christians, owing to the loose state-
ments which have been made of the unexampled progress of
crime in this country, being disheartened in their labours,
I may subjoin a comparative view of the state of crime in
England and Wales. We have seen that the commitments
for crime in Scotland,
In the years 1832, were 2431
1836, „ 2922
1840, „ 3872
In the same years, the crime of England and Wales was, —
In 1832, 20,829 persons committed.
1836, 20,984
1840, 27,187
Now, it appears from the late census, that the population of
Scotland is about one-sixth of that of England and Wales.
Were its crime in the same proportion, the Scottish criminals
should, at the respective dates, have been 3471, 3497, 4531 ;
instead of which they were what has been stated — in other
words, Scotland had less proportional crime than England by
1040, 575, and 659, in the years referred to, and that though
Scotland be a poorer country, and is a stranger to the English
poor law system, which by many is alleged to be a defence
against crime, and though, probably, the influx of Irish is
proportionally greater into Scotland than into England,
It would scarcely be fair to compare Scotland with Ireland
— a Protestant with a Popish country. I may merely men-
tion the numbers without expatiating on them. For instance,
in Ireland,
In 1832 there were 16,056 commitments.
1836 „ 23,891 „
1840 „ 23,822 „
Scotland is nearly one-third of the population of Ireland ; were
her criminals proportional in numbers they should have been
5352 and 7963, instead of 2431 and 2922. In other words,
Ireland had proportionaUrj for these years, 2921 and 5041 more
criminals than Scotland. But perhaps the most striking fact
is, that in 1837, the province of Ulster — the most Protestant
APPENDIX. 133
territory of Ireland — (stili one-half the population is Roman
Catholic) with a population somewhat less than Scotland, had
not less than 5605 criminal commitments. In the same year
Scotland had 3126 commitments for crime ; in other words,
p-oi^ortionally 2479 fewer criminals than the most Protestant
part of the sister country !
It is right, however, to state, that, while Ulster suffers in
a comparison with Scotland, doubtless from its large Roman
Catholic population, it gains immensely on comparison with
any other part of Ireland. Thus, the one county of Tipper-
ary in 1837 (population 402,563) had 4239 crimes, while the
whole of the ten counties of Ulster (population 2,314,104) had,
at the same lime as we have seen, 5G05 ; and while in the
Tipperary crimes there were 124 homicides, many of those of
Ulster were comparatively trifling. A few years before, too,
the military expense of Ulster was only one-twelfth of the
general military cost ; and of twenty-five regiments in Ire-
land, only two were stationed in that province, while its
population was nearly a third of the whole population of the
country.
From these important facts, resting chiefly on ofiicial re-
turns, I humbly think it is sufficiently obvious, that, most
melancholy as is the amount of crime in our country, it is often
very unnecessarily and mischievously exaggerated ; and that,
sad as are its aspects in Scotland, there is nothing in it to
discourage the efforts of faithful pastors, elders and deacons,
in seeking the amelioration and moral and religious renovation
of the people. The reader will readily believe that the state-
ments which have been made (and which have run to far
greater length than was originally intended) are not designed
to convey light views of, far less to apologise for crime, nor
to discourage the application of preventive force in rural
parishes as well as large towns, nor to slacken the zeal of
those who are labouring against the tide of prevailing ungod-
liness, as if their diligence w^ere unnecessary ; but solely to
correct exaggerated views, which are at once injurious to the
character of our common country, and disheartening to those
who have devoted, and are desirous to devote themselves yet
more and more to the religious improvement of their fellow-
men. As a Scotchman and a Christian, deeply interested in
the success of all the plans of moral good which of late years
have been put into operation, especially by the National
Church, it is impossible not to regi'et the exaggerated state-
ments in regard to crime which are often unwittingly propa-
gated,— statements which seem to pour contempt on all the
I
134 APPENDIX.
prayers and labours of the Christian Church, and to abandon
a large body of men as hopeless both in character and condi-
tion. It is the more to be regretted, when good men, without
thought, give currency to the same representations, and are
relaxed by what should rather move them to new dihgence
and zeal.
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